Johannesburg - Ugandan doctor Amos Nyathirombo is one of 18 African doctors celebrating a scientific milestone after a six-year World Health Organisation-led research they co-participated in found a more effective drug against River Blindness.
The United States Food and Drug Administration agency announced last Saturday that it had approved Moxidectin 8 mg Oral for the treatment of River Blindness in patients aged 12 years or older, Uganda’s Daily Monitor reported on Monday.
In addition to Nyathirombo, 18 doctors from four African countries were responsible for the breakthrough after they discovered that Moxidectin, previously a veterinary medicine, was more effective in treating River Blindness than Ivermectin which is in common use.
Their findings were published in the respected medical journal, Lancet, in January this year.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and WHO Special Programme for Research and Training Tropical Diseases financed the study.