Niger has become the first African country to eliminate river blindness, a parasitic disease that is the second-leading cause of blindness in the world, the WHO said Thursday.
Niger is "the fifth country globally and the first country in Africa to be acknowledged by WHO for interrupting transmission of the parasite Onchocerca volvulus," the World Health Organization said, referring to the worm that causes river blindness.
River blindness is spread to humans via the bite of a black fly, mainly found near rivers, that is infected with the parasitic worm.
"The combination of medicine and vector control had successfully eliminated transmission of onchocerciasis, as evidenced by the reduction in prevalence from approximately 60% to 0.02%," the UN health agency said.
WHO chief lauds Niger
Between 1976 and 1989, Niger and other West African states conducted a WHO-led programme using insecticides to curb transmission of the parasite.
Then between 2008 and 2019, drugs based on ivermectin and albendazole were administered to the general public to further stem the spread.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Niger for "liberating its population from this blinding, stigmatising illness that causes so much human suffering among the poorest."
River blindness has "impeded the economic development of affected communities, driving people away from rivers, which are often lifelines for livelihoods", added Matshidiso Moeti, the agency's director for Africa.
'Neglected tropical disease'
The WHO said a key factor in Niger's success was the collaboration between the government, the WHO and non-governmental organisations.
Onchocerciasis is the second-leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide, after trachoma.
It primarily affects rural populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen, with smaller endemic areas found in parts of Latin America.
River blindness is the second "neglected tropical disease" to have been eliminated in Niger, after the Sahel country was certified free of Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) in 2013.
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