Dr. Bjӧrn Thylefors was a major contributor to the VISION 2020 global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, which was built on strategies first developed in the field of onchocerciasis control and on the partnerships that developed to relieve the suffering caused by river blindness. Dr Thylefors first began contributing in the 1970s to the newly formed Onchocerciasis Control Programme (OCP) by conducting groundbreaking research on the ocular morbidity associated with ocular onchocerciasis infection. In 1994 he played a key role in the formation of the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC).