The Mectizan Donation Programme--a 10-year report

In the 10 years since 1987 when Merck & Co. announced a plan to donate its safe and effective microfilaricide, Mectizan (ivermectin, MSD), to treat onchocerciasis wherever and for as long as needed, more than 96 million treatments have been enabled in community-based treatment programmes in all 34 countries, in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, where the disease is endemic. It is expected that donations enabling some 33 million treatments will be approved in 1997. Since the beginning of the donation programme, it is estimated that some 19-20 million people have received at least one dose of the drug and that many have received their sixth, seventh, eighth, or even ninth annual dose.