River Blindness in the Americas linked to Slave Trade
By Walter Clark on behalf of Frank Richards
Dr. Frank Richards Jr, a world-renowned expert on vector-borne parasitic diseases, delivered a powerful Black History Month keynote address at the Brown University School of Public Health on February 21, 2023. His presentation, “River Blindness (onchocerciasis): from Africa to the Americas,” considered the Atlantic slave trade’s potential role in spreading the disease. Richards recounted the arrival of river blindness to the Americas during the early 1500s, alongside his personal history, and his successful efforts with the Carter Center to eliminate the disease from much of Central and South America.
Dr. Frank Richards Jr. presents “The Carter Center’s work to Eliminate Transmission of River Blindness (onchocerciasis) in Africa and the Americas.”
“Dr. Richards’ work is groundbreaking and inspiring,” said Interim Dean Ronald Aubert. “His commitment to eliminating vector-borne parasitic diseases has manifestly changed the world, and his efforts have helped to eliminate these diseases from nearly a dozen countries on two continents.” In his opening remarks, Aubert said it was “a thrill” to have Richards share his expertise and experiences with the Brown audience.
During his talk, Richards described river blindness as a relic of the slave trade that arrived in the Americas during the Columbian Exchange, a historical moment that marked the collision of peoples, goods, ideas, and diseases between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
“When Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World,” Richards said, “two biologically distinct worlds were brought into contact. The results of this exchange recast the biology of both regions and altered the history of the world.”
“Resistance was an integral part of the story from the very start.”
Click on image for the YouTube hour-length video posted by Brown University School of Public Health of Rick's extraordinary presentation that wove his love of history and one of his life missions, that of eradicating River Blindness. Give the image a hard tap and there may be a delay.