Multimedia

Jungle Airstrips Bring Medicine and Education to Fight River Blindness

Venezuela’s Ministry of Health and a coalition of partners led by the Carter Center's Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA) have joined forces to deliver health education and the drug Mectizan®, donated by Merck, to indigenous Yanomami people at risk for river blindness (onchocerciasis), which causes unbearable itching and can lead to blindness.

Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are sometimes the only way to reach communities deep in the jungle. Watch this video to see some of the challenges health teams face to reach the Yanomami and deliver essential medicine in the fight to eliminate river blindness.

Video posted with permission of Oscar Noya Alarcón.

Learn more about the Center’s OEPA Program:
https://www.cartercenter.org/health/river_blindness/oepa.html

Learn more about the Center’s River Blindness Elimination Program:
https://www.cartercenter.org/health/river_blindness/index.html
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