Nasty Nematodes Beware!

Can you imagine never seeing the sun rise? How about never seeing the smile on your child’s face? Thanks to a new drug called Moxidectin, some 100 million people across the African continent will be saved from such a dire reality. These individuals currently suffer from river blindness, a debilitating disease caused by the worm Onchocerca volvulus. Transmitted by the bite of the Black Fly, which breeds in fast-flowing rivers, these nasty parasites spread rapidly and can survive for up to fifteen years in the human body.

At present, the drug ivormectin is used to control river blindness endemic in African countries. Unfortunately, the drug only kills the worm larvae, which means that annual treatments are required for anywhere from 11-14 years to prevent further reproduction and transmission. On Wednesday, however, the UN health agency announced the launch of a clinical trial of Moxidectin in Ghana, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is believed this drug will kill not only the worm larvae, but also the adult worms, halting the disease cycle within six annual rounds of treatment.

Some 1,500 individuals are currently enrolled in the clinical trial, which will last approximately 2.5 years.

Tech-Savvy Ghanaians!

Technology is not reserved only for the wealthy, industrialized nations. We can now use technology to aid developing countries in battling poverty as well as coping with rapid globalization. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN-Ghana), is setting up ten Information and Communication Technology (ITC) learning centers in each of the ten regions in Ghana. This MTN ITC Learning Centers Project is a US$670,000 project, with $70,000 funded by UNDP. ITC education will serve multiple purposes, from developing the economy and enhancing the quality of education, to encouraging entrepreneurship and creating employment opportunities. In addition, the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Daouda Toure, said the UNDP would continue to help Ghana in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and middle-income status by 2015.