In Latin America, The Carter Center works through its Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA) to eliminate the disease from the region by helping to provide multiple Mectizan treatments per year in endemic areas. The Carter Center works through national ministries of health to provide health education and mobilize affected communities to distribute Mectizan. Mectizan kills the parasite larvae in the human body, preventing blindness and skin disease in infected persons, and stopping the transmission of the parasite to others. When necessary and feasible, the programs add black fly vector control as a complementary approach. The Carter Center assists ministries of health in six nations to eliminate river blindness through health education and mass drug administration (MDA) of the medicine Mectizan®, donated by Merck & Co., Inc. Together with the respective ministries of health and partners, the Carter Center's Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas has successfully eliminated river blindness transmission from Colombia (2013), Ecuador (2014), Mexico (2015), and Guatemala (2016). ![]() ![]() The Carter Center currently works to eliminate river blindness in the following countries: Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, and Venezuela. Approximately 20.9 million people are infected with the parasite that causes onchocerciasis, with more than 240 million at risk of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Yemen.
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