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UPPER VOLTA (BURKINA FASO) 1974. River blindness in Upper Volta

1974 (exact date unknown). Banfora, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso). A victim of River Blindness being led through his village at Banfora.

01/01/1974

Credit UN Photo issued by FAO

UNFAO Source FAO Photo Library

File size 64.20 MB

Unique ID UF213UO

Editorial use only. Photo credit must be given. For further information contact: Photo-Library@fao.org

Background Information

Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) is found mostly in Africa, along major river valleys. This disease is caused by a worm transmitted by the Black-fly that breeds in rivers. The adult fly lives on human blood. Harmful effects are mainly due to the embryos, which invade the skin where they cause severe lesions that may culminate in blindness. There are probably 20 million people around the world suffering from this disease. In seven countries in the Volta basin - Dahomey, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Upper Volta - approximately one million have the disease and at least 70 thousand of them are blind or with poor sight. The UN Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Health Organization are helping the Governments of the Volta basin to implement a twenty-year programme that is aimed at eradicating River Blindness which is obstructing the progress of the people in this region.