[Towards the elimination of onchocerciasis at the global scale: history, challenges and future prospects]

The total number of patients with onchocerciasis on the African continent was estimated in 2008 at 25720000. The control strategy for onchocerciasis has dramatically changed during the last 30 years, resulting in a decrease of patients. Vector control was mainly used until around 1990. Since then, the strategy has been transferred to "Mass Drug Administration using Ivermectin". An "Integrated Approach" for several endemic diseases has become a popular control strategy since 2005. Several tasks remain for eliminating onchocerciais: improvement of the population coverage of drug distribution, construction of monitoring systems to inspect the emergence of drug resistance, invention of anti-macrofilarial drugs to replace anti-microfilarial drugs, and reinforcement of the health authorities in African countries. The possible elimination of onchocerciasis also depends on the continued political commitment to the program by the Ministry of Health. If the ongoing control program keeps producing results at the current pace, the elimination of onchocerciasis could be achieved in the near future.