加载中…
利用这些药片和一把计量尺就能抗击一种可怕的疾病
(2016-02-26 08:18:38) | 分类： 科学与技术 |
每年，阿尔伯特·塔曼加·比丁（Albert Tamanja Bidim）都会带着一把长长的计量尺、所有村民的名单和抗寄生虫的药物伊维菌素片（ivermectin）走遍加纳他所在的村庄。较高的孩子和成人会得到一至四颗药片。比丁记录下那些不在家的人，并为他们保存药片。
他在最近一次接受采访时说，访遍村里的每一个人不是件容易的事，但却是值得的【请见英文报道】。在过去的两年里，没有人因为河盲症，又名盘尾丝虫病，而失明。这种寄生虫病能产生数十万能钻入皮肤的蛔虫幼虫，导致患者终身受到难以忍受的瘙痒的折磨。在某些情况下，寄生虫侵入眼睛，导致视力受损和失明。
超过一亿两千万人受到河盲症的威胁，这种病是被滋生在水流湍急的河流中的蚋叮咬而引起的。百分之九十九的病例发生在非洲，而常常又是在偏远地区。世界卫生组织把河盲症归类为“被忽视的热带疾病”。
在过去几十年，科学家们曾认为河盲症过于顽固而无法根除。但如今，加纳等非洲国家有希望完全消灭这种疾病。
“这种做法的确有效！”
加纳卫生部的娜娜-夸杜沃·比瑞特旺（Nana-Kwadwo Biritwum）博士在接受采访时说:“这需要大量的工作，大量的资源。”
https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/hp_02-300x199.jpg美国前总统吉米·卡特的基金会卡特中心正在帮助根除河盲症和其他“被忽视的热带病” （卡特中心）卫生部门组织数千名像比丁这样的志愿者，向每个受到威胁的人发放伊维菌素。从2015年诺贝尔奖获得者威廉·坎贝尔（William C. Campbell）和大村智（Satoshi Omura）开发的药物中提取的伊维菌素能杀死寄生的幼虫，10至15年坚持每年进行治疗就能完全根除疾病【请见英文简报】。默克制药公司（Merck）提供了免费的药物，包括世界银行和卡特中心（Carter Center ）在内的国际组织帮助提供了分发药物的资金。
卡特中心的资深研究员威廉·佛吉（William Foege）博士写道:“数以百万计的不同的实例，以及数以百万计的人们齐心协力……尽管困难重重，但这种做法的确有效！”
在1990年有80％的人可能染上该病的村庄里，如今的发病率为2%?3％。加纳力争到2020年彻底根除河盲症。
美国前总统卡特（Jimmy Carter）在2013年表示:“在使命完成之前我不准备庆功。目前是需要加倍努力的时候。”
These pills — and a measuring stick — can stop a dreaded disease
Every year, Albert Tamanja Bidim carries a long measuring stick, a list of all residents, and tablets of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin through his village in Ghana. Taller kids and adults get one to four tablets. Bidim notes people who are away and saves doses for them.
He says in a recent
interview that tracking down everyone in the village is
difficult, but rewarding. In the past two years, nobody has lost
their sight to river blindness,
or
More than 120 million people are at risk for river blindness, caused by biting blackflies that breed in fast-flowing rivers. Ninety-nine percent of cases occur in Africa, often in remote areas. The World Health Organization has classified river blindness as a “neglected tropical disease.”
For decades, scientists thought
‘It actually works!’
“It takes a lot of work, a lot of resources,” said Dr. Nana-Kwadwo Biritwum of Ghana’s Ministry of Health in an interview.
https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/hp_02-300x199.jpgFormer U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s foundation, The Carter Center, is helping eradicate river blindness and other ‘neglected tropical diseases.’ (The Carter Center)Ministries of health organize thousands volunteers such as Bidim to get doses of ivermectin to everyone at risk. Derived from a drug developed by 2015 Nobel Prize winners William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura, ivermectin kills parasitic larvae, and an annual treatment for 10–15 years gets rid of the disease entirely. Pharmaceutical company Merck has made the drug freely available, and international organizations, including the World Bank and the Carter Center, have helped fund distribution.
“Millions of separate stories, with millions of people playing supporting roles … and yet, despite the odds, it actually works!” wrote Carter Center senior fellow Dr. William Foege.
Today, villages where 80 percent of people might have contracted the disease in 1990 are showing rates of 2 to 3 percent. Ghana seeks to eliminate river blindness completely by 2020.
“I am not ready to celebrate until the task is complete,” said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, speaking in 2013. “It is the time to increase our efforts.”
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