200. Colatrella B. (2003), ‘The Mectizan® Donation Programme: Successful Collaboration Between the Public and Private Sectors’, Essential Drugs Monitor, 33:27-28.

In 1987, much before collaboration between the public and private sectors was common; Merck & Co., Inc. launched the Mectizan Donation Programme (MDP). Through this Programme  Merck made a commitment to donate Mectizan (ivermectin) for as long as needed, wherever needed, to combat onchocerciasis (river blindness). Today, the MDP is a unique multisectoral coalition involving Merck, the Mectizan Expert Committee, WHO, the World Bank, UNICEF, national ministries of health, more than 30 NGOs and thousands of local community health workers. It is the longest-running donation programme of its kind, with active community-directed treatment programmes in 33 of 35 endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Yemen. More than 30 million people are now treated annually. Although this Programme predated the Interagency Guidelines for Drug Donations, the Programme operates in a way that is entirely consistent with these Guidelines. The Mectizan Donation Programme has taught us many lessons about how to mobilise resources in public-private partnerships to address significant health problems.The Mectizan Donation Programme has helped millions of people in the developing world and now serves as a model of public-private partnership. Through the continuing efforts of this effective coalition, there is hope that onchocerciasis can be eliminated as a major public health problem and socioeconomic constraint within the next decade. The power of properly designed and executed partnerships – at the global, national and local levels – should not be underestimated.