The socio-economic aspects of human onchocerciasis in Africa: present appraisal.

The pattern of socio-economic liability that has emerged due to human onchocerciasis in Africa has been particularly damaging. Due to debilitation and blindness, the sufferer is unable to maintain for long any type of productive activity. As a cause of permanent disability through blindness or serious visual impairment, it withdraws the affected individuals' potential supply of labour years of activity requiring vision. The desertation of many river valleys in the savannah zone that are agriculturally fertile have been attributed mainly to the effects of this disease. This has by definition, meant that emigrants impose demands upon other territories that are often agriculturally less fertile consequently resulting to constant population maladjustment. As a cause of death, infection removes individual's supply of labour years in the future. The social life obtainable in these areas is better imagined than seen. It is a common trend seeing chains of blind adults being led to markets or within cities by children with good vision-constituting destitutes. The distressing skin features give patients prematurely aged appearance and together with dreadful malformation due to sclerosing lymphadenitid, infected individuals show shyness towards free social interactions; even sexual life is greatly affected if not completely hindered. The present economic benefit analysis of control projects, limitations and needs for future studies are disoussed.