Guyana has an opportunity to finally rid itself of Lymphatic filariasis, but this is only achievable with the cooperation of the citizenry, says Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony. To this end, the official is pleading with Guyanese to get informed and to take the medication currently being distributed by the Mass Drug Administration (MDA).
“We would like to urge the population to cooperate, because if we are successful at this particular programme, then in a couple months WHO (World Health Organisation) would be able to certify that we’ve eliminated filaria from Guyana,” he said.
House-to-house distribution in Regions Four and Three commenced on February 12 and is expected to run for about two weeks. This round of distribution is the second and final supply, and already, over 39,000 persons took the medication, the minister reported.
The programme is expected to be extended to Regions Six and Ten on March 1, followed by the commencement of distribution in the remaining six regions by March 8.
Lymphatic filariasis impairs the lymphatic system and can lead to the abnormal enlargement of body parts, causing pain, severe disability and social stigma. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 893 million people in 49 countries worldwide remain threatened by lymphatic filariasis and require preventive chemotherapy to stop the spread of this parasitic infection.
In 2000, over 120 million people were infected, with about 40 million disfigured and incapacitated by the disease. Lymphatic filariasis can be eliminated by stopping the spread of infection through preventive chemotherapy with safe medicine combinations repeated annually. More than 7.7 billion treatments have been delivered to stop the spread of infection since 2000.
