RIVER BLINDESS SCRIPT

by Samuel Loewenberg

VO: In the isolated villages of Tanzania, rivers are a source of life.

They are also a source of disease.

VO: This man [name: Leo Khalfam Msakile ] is a corn farmer and father of five. But for the last three years he has not been able to see and cannot work. He has river blindness.

VO: River blindness, or oncherciasis, affects more than 3 million people in Tanzania alone.  On a recent trip to the southern Highlands of Tanzania with the World Health Organization, I visited isolated villages where innovative efforts are underway to treat the disease. It presents some unusual challenges.

DR KABUKA: "In this particular village, the only source of water supply is

this river. They need water from this river, for washing themselves, for

washing their clothes."

VO: But there is a major problem. This river is infected with black flies,

which carry the parasitic worms that cause river blindness. The flies

breed in clean fast moving water, which makes it difficult for the

villagers who depend on the river to avoid.

VO: The fly bites introduce worms into the body, where they form nodules

under the skin, and quickly reproduce, creating millions of offspring.

VO: Dr. Wade Kabuka, an ophthalmologist by training, has been working on

river blindness in the Ruvuma region for nearly a decade.

SAM [off camera]: You said we're going to see a man who...

DR KABUKA: Who has suspected signs of skin legions which are suspected to

be signs of onchocerciasis.

VO: The complications from river blindness can be debilitating, ranging from

severe itching that can cause people to lose sleep for years at a time, to

epilepsy, and ultimately to blindness.

VO: Leo Khalfam Msakile began to lose his sight three years ago. He has been given medication but appears to have been skipping it. He still has such severe itching that he can no longer sleep through the night.

SAM [Off camera}: He hasn't slept for a year?

OSCAR [off camera]: Yes. He can maybe sleep for three hours...

VO: People with epilespy are badly affected by the disease. The farmer's son, who is 22, suffers from seizures three times a month.

VO: For the last decade the World Health Organization's African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control has been working with public health officials throughout Africa to come up with innovative ways to treat the disease. In Tanzania, health officials travel through isolated villages recruiting a network of community organizers to assist in treatment.

VO: They work to distribute the drug, known as mectizan, which was

originally developed as a veterinary medicine, and is given away free by its manufacturer, Merck.

VO: The drug stops the worm from breeding but does not kill it. Infected

people must take the medicine for 15 years, the life of the worm.

DR KABUKA: The prevalence rate for Litowa village is 98 percent.

SAM (off camera): Ninety eight percent. So probably all these people are

infected.

DR KABUKA: YEAH.

VO: In order for the drug to halt the spread of the parasite, the entire

village must take it for the full fifteen years. Otherwise the worms will

keep breeding and reinfect humans.

VO: But getting people to take the drug, which can cause severe reactions

at first, is often difficult.

DR KABUKA: There are a few people, in the community, who refuses to take

the drug. Those are the ones who are going to continue spreading the

disease in the community.

VO: Many people fear that the drug will sterilize them.

COMMUNITY WORKER IN YELLOW SHIRT [Speaking Kiswahili]

Translation VO: People [was] generated the false idea that mectizan was

terminating libido.

VO: Others prefer to rely on local healers.

OSCAR [off camera}: He said he went to the witchdoctors.

VO: Doctor Kabuka says that getting authorities to fund river blindness

treatment programs can be difficult, especially when they are in

competition for limited funds with high profile disease like HIV/AIDS.

VO: More than 37 million people worldwide have river blindness, most of them

in Africa. Three times that many are at risk for the disease.

VO: It is the world's second leading cause of preventable blindness.

VO: For now, these community based programs are the best hope for the people in the river villlages of Tanzania.

WRITTEN, SHOT, AND PRODUCED BY SAMUEL LOEWENBERG