Caused by a parasitic worm carried by a tiny black fly‚ the disease brought about visual impairment and skin lesions to millions of people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 1978 that some 340‚000 people were blind because of onchocerciasis‚ and that a million more were suffered from various degrees of visual impairment. At the time‚ 18 million or more people were infected with the parasite‚ though half did not yet have serious symptoms (Donaldson & Werhane‚ 2008). Although
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of Contents Section 1…………………………………………………………………………………3 Section 2…………………………………………………………………………………4 Section 3…………………………………………………………………………………6 Section 4…………………………………………………………………………………9 Section 1: Introduction and Situational Analysis Onchocerciasis‚ known as river blindness‚ is caused by parasitic worms that live in the small black flies that breed in and about fast-moving rivers in developing countries in the Middle East‚ Africa‚ and Latin America. The disease‚ if untreated causes extreme
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drug to fight against dangerous intestinal bugs and insects in bugs. One particular researcher‚ Dr. William Cambell‚ noticed a characteristic in ivermectin showing that it might also be able to fight against the parasite that causes the disease onchocerciasis commonly known as river blindness. He reported this observation to the head of Merck research labs‚ Dr. P. Roy Vagelos. River blindness is a disease that affects over eighteen million people in Third World countries. It is caused by a parasitic
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that may produce conflicting results. Ethical dilemmas require compromising ethical principles regardless of which option is selected. As such‚ the decision made is never classified as being perfect (Allen‚ 2012). One such dilemma arose from Onchocerciasis‚ also known as river blindness. River blindness is a disease that affects one’s skin and eyes causing skin infections and permanent blindness. This disease mainly affects persons living in Africa as well as South and Central America. Statistics
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Ethics Case Study Merck & Company invested millions of dollars to develop a treatment for river blindness‚ a disease of the developing world that has infected 18 million people and poses a risk for 127 million people. River blindness is caused by the bite of black flies that deposit larvae of a parasite under the skin of their victims. When the larvae mature into adult worms‚ the adults reproduce millions of the immature forms of the parasites that migrate throughout the tissues of the body causing
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Onchocerciasis is a filarial infection that leads to blindness and debilitating skin lesions. Onchocerciasis is found associated with the river system of tropical African regions. According to WHO this diseases occurs in 37 countries affecting 17.7 million people‚ out of which 500‚000 were visually impaired and 270‚000 were blind. Africa is the most affected country (95% ) from this disease in terms of the allocation and the severity of its clinical manifestation. Moreover‚ this disease also pose
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Think about the definition of stakeholders—any parties with a stake in the organizations actions or performance. Who are the stakeholders in this situation? How many can you list? On what basis would you rank them in importance? The stakeholders in the Merk case is the people infected with river blindness‚ the community affected by river blindness‚ the employees of Merk‚ the company itself‚ and the Stockholders. In order of importance: 1. The infected people 2. The company 3. Stockholders 4. The
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contact‚ a clear indication that he is blind. You approach the lizard man and ask his age‚ he replies “Cuarenta y tres.” You wonder to yourself how could a man who is 43 years old have lost his vision and aged so prematurely? The simple answer is Onchocerciasis or more commonly known as River Blindness. Desowitz (1981) discusses the history‚ causes‚ and possible treatments of River Blindness in his book “New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers. Tales of Parasites and People.” Desowitz mainly focuses
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Merck Ethics Study In developing a drug to combat river blindness‚ pharmaceutical company Merck discovered an opportunity to treat millions of affected peoples around the world that probably would never see commercial use. The drug in development‚ ivermectin‚ was unaffordable to the primary victims of river blindness‚ Third World peoples. Thus‚ Dr. Vagelos‚ the head of research at the time‚ treaded upon a ethical quagmire; he could either choose to scrap the drug and its further research or
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10/6/2014 Case 3: Merck and River Blindness 1. Why was Merck hesitant about developing a human version of Ivermectin? Merck considered this opportunity as a high risk investment. The cost of developing the drug was estimated at $100 million. Even if it was successful to cure river blindness the victims were too poor to afford the drug. There was no way to distribute it in these rural areas were the victims were located. In addition‚ there was a possibility that people would misuse the drugs‚ which
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off this core value‚ Merck and Co. should be more inclined to create the drug despite the seeming lack of profit. Aspects that had led to the quandary are the lack of profit and the pressure of the ethical qualm of creating a helpful drug. “Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease caused by the filarial worm Onchocerca volvulus. It is transmitted through the bites of infected blackflies of Simulium species‚ which carry immature larval forms of the parasite from human to human. In the human body
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He was diagnosed with River Blindness. River Blindness or Onchocerciasis is caused by the larvae of the Onchocerca volvulus worm. The parasitic worms live in the mouth parts of black flies and when an infected fly bites a human‚ the parasite enters the body through the bite wound. There the worms reproduce generating
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people by maximizing “good” and minimizing “bad.” Outcomes‚ results‚ or goals are the focus—not the action taken to achieve them. Utilitarians facing an ethical dilemma ask‚ “What is my goal? What outcome should I aim for?” River blindness (onchocerciasis) is a parasitic disease‚ a worm affecting millions of people‚ mostly in Africa. Until the late 1980s‚ there was no magic bullet against the worm‚ Onchocerca volvulus. The available drugs had serious side effects and the sick‚ mostly poor villagers
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A. Trachoma This is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium “Chlamydia trachomatis”. The infection causes the inner surface of the eyelids to become rough leading to pain in the eye‚ breakdown of the cornea and possible blindness. Untreated‚ repeated trachoma infections result in entropion - a painful form of permanent blindness when the eyelids turn inward‚ causing the eyelashes to scratch the cornea. Children are the most susceptible to infection due to their tendency to easily get dirty
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are main reason of child impaired development in mostly poor people. It often causes 4 million people to become ill. They can penetrate in the skin of a person. Person normally eat eggs with a food. Severe infection is the main cause of anemia. Onchocerciasis ‚ Onchocerca volvulus cause 20 millon people in Africa to become infected. It causes the diseases river blindness.
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Reservoir defined The word reservoir refers to a place where large amounts of water get stored. The word reservoir comes from the French réservoir‚ which further derives from the Old French reserver‚ meaning "to reserve." Reservoirs are those water bodies formed or modified by human activity for specific purposes‚ in order to provide a reliable and controllable resource. a water body contained by embankments or a dam‚ and subsequently managed in response to specific community needs; or any natural
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Visual Impaired Definition Blindness is the inability to see from light to dark or just the inability to see at all. In some cases it leads to total loss of vision. Visual impaired is a severe reduction of vision that can’t be fully treated by medical treatment or lenses. Blindness and visual impairment are often used as synonyms‚ in the sports world. The International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) and the U.S. Association for Blind Athletes (USABA) serve persons whose vision varies from
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encourage drug companies to further research on rare diseases by proposing tax benefits and seven-year exclusive marketing rights if they manufactured drugs for diseases afflicting fewer than 200‚000 Americans. River blindness‚ also known as “onchocerciasis” is a disease found in over 35 developing countries throughout the Third World. The cause of the disease came from parasitic worm that were carried by black flies. In 1978‚ the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that approximately 340‚000
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India has had lots of hits and misses with malaria since independence. Prevention starts at home. Self determination is needed .Protective measures should be adopted; they not only help protect the individual but rather deprive the mosquito of its blood meal .self enforcement is the key‚ motivation and commitment from the user is needed for a fail safe outcome. A child dies from malaria every 30 seconds The Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) (an alliance of WHO‚ UNICEF‚ World Bank‚ UN Development
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emergence of the parasites that are resistant to praziquantel. The WHO strategy on the use of anthelmintic drugs now makes it possible to control schistosomiasis in poor communities in conjunction with interventions against lymphatic filariasis‚ onchocerciasis and soil transmitted helminthiasis. SCHISTOSOMIASIS IN TANZANIA FOR
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