A damn wonderful story to share....

In My Humble Opinion
1

Not quite sure where to post this thread: certainly not in great debates or mindless points I need to share. Too bad there isn’t a GOD DAMN THIS IS GREAT!

Anyway: This story shows that there are positive things that corporations can do. It also illustrates that sometimes goals are reached in Africa. Finally, it shows what public health can accomplish when there is a true esprit to get the job done although as you read thru the story you will see that there is a bit a maintenance to do.

So what the hell is kiffa talking about? A nearly abandoned village in Mali, West Africa is coming back to life since the River Blindness Project has now brought hope to folks. Thanks to the humongous drug company, Merck, villagers receive a dose of an orphan drug that prevents river blindness. Merck decided to distribute the drug free - it doesn’t cost a thing for those at high risk.

Here is the BBC story site: with some wonderful photos of Malian village life.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_0miracle0_village/html/3.stm Sorry for the ugly cut and paste job.

And sorry if I violate some obscure SDMB rule about this type of posting. I humbly hand my head and chant “mea culpa”. BUT I am truly happy about this story that needs to be shared on the board. There have been too many times that our conversations turn to that “hopeless basket case called Africa”.

Also, I lived in Mali and know some people who worked hard on establishing the distribution system. Public Health is my life’s work. I’ve lived all over Africa for 20+ years and now am living in the Congo - a place where few stories like this Malian story appears in the int’l media.

Wow! I’m am just so pleased I had to share this on the board. kiffa

2

That’s really wonderful. Thanks for sharing this.

3

Wow! That is so cool! Gives you hope for humanity, doesn’t it?

4

My hat is off to Merck for this project. It’s wonderful.

For those who don’t know what an orphan drug is, let me tell you. When a disease affects a fairly small number of victims, the cure has no chance to ever make a profit. Most drug makers won’t touch research on a no-profit disease like river blindness. Other examples are ALS and muscular dystrophy. Now you know how incredibly generous this project is.

5

Reminds me of how Monsanto donated acres of some sort of nylon mesh. People in Africa drain water through it before drinking. It filters out Guinea Worm eggs.

As a result this parasite is darn near extinct.

Yeah!