Announcement of Onchocerciasis Meeting in Paris on May 31, 1979

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ' eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Ttlephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE May 31, 1979 ONCHOCERCIASIS MEETING IN PARIS A meeting of the donor agencies and countries supporting the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in the Volta River Basin area in West Africa was held in Paris, on May 29 and 30, 1979, under the chairmanship of the World Bank. As the first six-yearphaseof the programme will terminate at the end of 1979, the purpose of the meeting was to consider the financial and legal arrangements for the second six-year phase, 1980-85. The programme was launched in 1974 at the request of seven West African countries severely affected by the disease: Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Upper Volta. The programme covers an area of 754,000 square k i 1ome t e rs . Onchocerciasis (riverblindness) is transmitted by a tiny blackfly which • Jays eggs that develop in fast-flowing rivers. About one mill ion inhabitants of these countries are victims of the disease which is an important constraint on economic development in the area. The evaluation of the programme carried out at the end of 1978 confirmed that the objectives of the programme were being realized. !n nearly 80% of the area, transmission of the disease has been interrupted, and surveys conducted ~o far revealed no new cases of onchocerciasis in children under five years of age. During the second phase of the programme, it is proposed to continue the stra- tegy of systematic aerial larviciding, entomological and epidemiological evalu- ation, training, and research. Between 1980 and 1985, the scope of operations will be increased by 70% over the first phase. The total cost of the second- phase operations is expected to be about $133 mill ion. The meeting was attended by representatives from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, United Kindgom, United States, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Organi- sation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OPEC Special Fund, United Nations Development Programme, World Health Organization, and the World Bank. Agencies and countries supporting the programme contribute to a special Onchocerciasis Fund administered by the World Bank. The World Health Organi- zation is executing agency of the programme. At the meeting substantial progress was made towards putting in place the • arrangements for the next phase . NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.