This film looks at the success in overcoming a crippling disease that has besieged Nigeria, and large parts of Africa for decades. Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness causes unbearable itching and ultimately blindness to the point where river-side communities were abandoned.

Thanks to the dedication of people like Nasarawa State Coordinator for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Jacob Righain, the support of NGO partners The Carter Center and donation of the treating drug Mectizan by Merck & Co., local communities have been empowered to break the transmission of river blindness and create a platform for future disease interventions.

Filmed just before the COVID-19 lockdown kicked in, we worked with a talented Nigerian crew to get right to the heart of the story. We edited back in the UK and created a bespoke soundtrack to help transport the viewer deeper into the world of neglected tropical diseases.

It forms part of a wider suite of films used in different ways that have told the Mectizan Donation Program story over the years, collaborating with multiple global partners from the Nigerian Ministry of Health and local government, to Sightsavers, the Carter Center and other key players in the game to get full engagement from the offset.

Working in partnership with Comic Relief and building on our understanding of British Airways’ brand requirements, we devised a concept for this Flying Start inflight fundraising film, based on capturing real interviews with the real change-makers of the future from two sides of the world. The premise of the film is to show how the ripple effect of our actions can have a wide-reaching impact and serve the purpose of changing lives for the better.

This film was played 40 minutes before landing on all of British Airways’ mid- and long-haul flights.

We also made an accompanying longer version for internal colleague engagement that is a core part of British Airways’ Flying Start campaign.

Flying Start has raised over £25 million to date from inflight and colleague donations.

River blindness is a crippling disease that affects people who live at the margins of society, where they don’t have access to clean water, proper medical care or the preventative treatment Mectizan that is donated by Merck.

This film looks at the power of partnership through the lens of the truly symbiotic relationship that exists between NGOs and the Nigerian government as they strive to eliminate lymphatic filariasis, which is also known as River Blindness.

The work of non-governmental organisations like Sightsavers is key to helping strengthen national health systems in their response to neglected tropical diseases.

Kate McCoy from Sightsavers said of this film: “It’s absolutely brilliant, the footage is stunning and the partnerships and different players in delivering oncho work come across so well – congrats!”