ISNTD FESTIVAL

2020

Living with the Fly: River Blindness in Ghana

Natural Resources Instituite & Canadian International Development Research Centre IDRC  

Showcase submission:

"One of life's paradoxes is water related. Water as a source of life to many organisms is also a source of death and untold misery to many alive. Many living organisms gravitate towards water bodies to sustain their living. Here also many find death and their nemesis." So begins this documentary about the disease Onchocerciasis or 'river blindness' in Ghana, West Africa.

 

Entitled 'Living with the Fly', the film looks closely at the vector of Onchocerciasis, the blackfly (Simulium damnosum). NRI's Prof Robert Cheke was involved in a project known as the Ecohealth Programme, funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), which sought to find solutions to the problem of blackfly.

 

Their approach involved addressing the interactions between the environment and socio-economic activities to better understand, prevent and control the spread of the disease while considering the importance of livelihoods, gender and social inequities in developing any solutions.