{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T09:35:20Z","timestamp":1793093720490,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,13]],"date-time":"2019-06-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1560384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Here, we review all data available at the Ministry of Public Health in order to describe the history of the National Program for Onchocerciasis Control (NPOC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Discovered in 1903, the disease is endemic in all provinces. Ivermectin was introduced in 1987 as clinical treatment, then as mass treatment in 1989. Created in 1996, the NPOC is based on community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI). In 1999, rapid epidemiological mapping for onchocerciasis surveys were launched to determine the mass treatment areas called \u201cCDTI Projects\u201d. CDTI started in 2001 and certain projects were stopped in 2005 following the occurrence of serious adverse events. Surveys coupled with rapid assessment procedures for loiasis and onchocerciasis rapid epidemiological assessment were launched to identify the areas of treatment for onchocerciasis and loiasis. In 2006, CDTI began again until closure of the activities of African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) in 2015. In 2016, the National Program for Neglected Tropical Diseases Control using Preventive Chemotherapy (PNMTN-CP) was launched to replace NPOC. Onchocerciasis and CDTI are little known by the population. The objective of eliminating onchocerciasis by 2025 will not be achieved due to the poor results of the NPOC. The reform of strategies for eliminating this disease is strongly recommended.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed4020092","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,13]],"date-time":"2019-06-13T11:15:58Z","timestamp":1560424558000},"page":"92","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Review of the National Program for Onchocerciasis Control in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4985-2912","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean-Claude","family":"Makenga Bof","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Ecole de Sant\u00e9 Publique, Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fortunat","family":"Ntumba Tshitoka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health: Program of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) for Preventive Chemotherapy (PC), Gombe, Kinshasa, DRC"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Muteba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health: Program of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) for Preventive Chemotherapy (PC), Gombe, Kinshasa, DRC"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Mansiangi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN), Lemba, Kinshasa, DRC"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yves","family":"Coppieters","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ecole de Sant\u00e9 Publique, Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,6,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2018, November 02). 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