Blanks J, Richards F, Beltrán F, Collins R, Alvarez E, Zea Flores G, Bauler B, Cedillos R, Heisler M, Brandling-Bennett D, Baldwin W, Bayona M, Klein R, Jacox M
River Blindness Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Rev Panam Salud Publica. 1998 Jun;3(6):367-74. doi: 10.1590/s1020-49891998000600002.
The decision in 1987 by the pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. to provide Mectizan (ivermectin) free of charge to river blindness control programs has challenged the international public health community to find effective ways to distribute the drug to rural populations most affected by onchocerciasis. In the Americas, PAHO responded to that challenge by calling for the elimination of all morbidity from onchocerciasis from the Region by the year 2007 through mass distribution of ivermectin. Since 1991, a multinational, multiagency partnership (consisting of PAHO, the endemic countries, nongovernmental development organizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as academic institutions and funding agencies) has developed the political, financial, and technical support needed to move toward the realization of that goal. This partnership is embodied in the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA), which is supported by the River Blindness Foundation (RBF) and now by the Carter Center. OEPA was conceived as a means of maintaining a regional initiative to eliminate what is otherwise a low priority disease. Since its inception in 1993, the OEPA has provided more than US$ 2 million in financial, managerial, and technical assistance to stimulate and/or support programs in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela, so as to take full advantage of the Merck donation. Now halfway into a five-year, US$ 4 million grant provided through the Inter-American Development Bank, the OEPA's capacity to support the regional initiative is assured through 1999.
1987年，制药公司默克公司决定向盘尾丝虫病控制项目免费提供美迪善（伊维菌素），这促使国际公共卫生界寻找有效的方法，将这种药物分发给受盘尾丝虫病影响最严重的农村人口。在美洲，泛美卫生组织应对这一挑战，呼吁到2007年通过大规模分发伊维菌素，消除该区域所有盘尾丝虫病发病率。自1991年以来，一个跨国、多机构伙伴关系（由泛美卫生组织、流行国家、非政府发展组织、佐治亚州亚特兰大的疾病控制和预防中心以及学术机构和资助机构组成）已发展出实现该目标所需的政治、财政和技术支持。这种伙伴关系体现在美洲盘尾丝虫病消除计划（OEPA）中，该计划得到河盲症基金会（RBF）的支持，现在由卡特中心提供支持。OEPA被视为维持一项区域倡议的手段，以消除这种原本不太受重视的疾病。自1993年成立以来，OEPA已提供超过200万美元的财政、管理和技术援助，以刺激和/或支持巴西、哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、危地马拉、墨西哥和委内瑞拉的项目，从而充分利用默克公司的捐赠。通过美洲开发银行提供的为期五年、400万美元的赠款已执行了一半，OEPA支持该区域倡议的能力在1999年之前得到保障。
