Strengthening Onchocerciasis Surveys and Laboratory Capacity in Ethiopia

Supporting Ethiopia’s goal of onchocerciasis elimination by 2030

Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus (OV) and transmitted through repeated bites by blackflies. Ethiopia’s efforts to eliminate this disease can be expedited through upgraded laboratory facilities, training, and coverage surveys for OV mass drug administration (MDA).

Funded by the END Fund, this activity aims to protect 7.5 million people from the risk of onchocerciasis infection by supporting Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health (MOH) in achieving onchocerciasis elimination in the Oromia and Beneshangul-Gumuz regions. 

Approach to Onchocerciasis Elimination and Neglected Tropical Disease Control

We support the Ethiopian government’s goal of protecting its citizens from the threat of onchocerciasis infection by:

• Supporting regional health bureaus to achieve their elimination goals set through joint strategizing and close collaboration.
• Leveraging our extensive experiencein delivering successful, integrated, cost-effective, and sustainable programs to control and eliminate NTDs in more than 75 countries, including Ethiopia.
• Engaging local leadership and the local health workforce to build rapport and trust with communities.
• Applying lessons learned in supporting health services in onchocerciasis-endemic countries.
• Applying our laboratory expertise to conduct the training needed to grow the cohort of quality assurance leaders for onchocerciasis.

Key Activities to Build Laboratory Capacity for Onchocerciasis Elimination in Ethiopia

RTI will assist Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health in expediting its timelines for onchocerciasis elimination across three focus areas:

1. Decentralizing OV laboratory facilities and expanding and accelerating sample analysis by remodeling space within the Adama Molecular Laboratory to create a new onchocerciasis lab for the analysis of dried blood spots and blackflies.
2.  Strengthening human resources capacity by training epidemiological and entomological technicians, including national-level entomological training of trainers.
3. Collecting data to strengthen OV MDA via coverage surveys in districts that the END Fund supports.

Learn more about our work in controlling and eliminating NTDs and in Ethiopia.