Merck fights Bilharzia in Mozambique

Merck fights Bilharzia in Mozambique

54m treated

By Justine Wangui (ScienceAfrica correspondent)
justinewangui@gmail.com

 Merck pharmaceutical company is fighting bilharzia (schistosomiasis) worm in Mozambique, Malawi and Senegal and other African nations hoping to eliminate it by taking a holistic approach including education programs to ensure that less children contract the disease while giving them new opportunities for a brighter future.

Merck collaborates with World Health Organization (WHO) to fight and has donated more than 200 million praziquantel tablets to treat almost 54 million patients.  WHO estimates show that over 18 million people in Mozambique require treatment. This amounts up to four out of five people infected thus portraying the vast spread of the epidemic.  In agreement with WHO, the country has been receiving tablets from the British Department for International Development (DFID) since 2O11.

Currently, Merck and British Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) which are both members of the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance developing a joint concept to fight future outbreak of schistosomiasis in Mozambique. (Source:http://www.merckgroup.com)