Brazil exceeds WHO target for onchocerciasis treatment in Yanomami territory

Brazil has reached an 85.4% coverage rate for collective ivermectin treatment in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory during the first half of 2026. This figure exceeds the 85% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to interrupt the transmission of onchocerciasis, a disease commonly known as “river blindness.”

The Yanomami territory, located across the states of Roraima and Amazonas near the Venezuelan border, contains the last active focus of onchocerciasis in the Americas. The treatment strategy involves administering ivermectin twice a year to eliminate microfilariae and prevent the parasite from maintaining human reservoirs. The eligible population includes those at risk, excluding pregnant women, severely ill individuals, and children under five years old who are shorter than 90 cm and weigh less than 15 kg.

While the parasite remains active in the region, Brazil has not recorded cases of blindness caused by the disease since 2012. The country aims to eliminate onchocerciasis as a public health problem by 2030 through the “Brasil Saudável” program. The current prevention efforts also extend to Venezuelan indigenous people traveling through the Brazilian border region.