ABSTRACT
Any visitor to the World Health Organization’s head-
quarters building in Geneva will pass a remarkable
sculpture situated on the front lawn outside the main
entrance (Figure 8.1). It shows a young West African
boy leading his blind father on a long pole. Unveiled
by the former US President, Jimmy Carter, it is a mon-
ument to the Onchocerciasis Control Programme
which has largely cleared a devastating tropical dis-
ease - river blindness - from West Africa.
