…as Health ministry launches lymphatic filariasis elimination campaign 2024
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony taking his filaria pills
The Health Ministry has officially launched the 2024 Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign, aiming to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF), a debilitating disease affecting thousands of Guyanese.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony led the launch on Friday, supported by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Health Ministry has mobilised 700 pill distributors to administer filaria pills over the next two weeks, targeting Regions Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica), where the risk of LF is particularly high.
Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as LF, is a severe disease-causing irreversible swelling in the extremities and genitals. Thousands in Guyana are already affected by LF. According to the Health Minister, this campaign is a critical step towards eradicating filaria from Guyana and improving the quality of life for those at risk.
Councilor of Albouystown, Travis Ellis taking his filaria pills at the launching on Friday
“For more than one century we have been trying to curtail filaria in Guyana… there is a long history of us trying. It is really a painful thing and the biggest pain in the societal pain. People look at these people with scorn…,” he said.
Anthony noted that a new, triple drug therapy will be implemented during the MDA, including Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine, and Albendazole. This combination has been proven to significantly reduce the burden of filarial infection. He further explained that the latest survey indicated that the two focal regions had a disease prevalence exceeding the one percent threshold.
“Anything above that one per cent we would want to go back and ensure that we reduce it….out of an abundance of caution, what we decided to do is to go back [to Regions Three and Four] …and do both of these regions,” Anthony disclosed.
Over the next two years, the ministry will work intensively to eradicate the disease within these regions. Dr Anthony urged administrators to take their time explaining to patients the benefits of the pill and how it aids in the country’s elimination campaign.
“We have to walk to every house, to every street and we have to talk to people. And if they don’t understand the rationale…we have to spend some time to explain to them what it is and how it helps the country,” he emphasised.
A section of the gathering at the launch of the 2024 campaign
Additionally, Coordinator of the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Campaign, Dr Anastacia Sampson, provided brief remarks on the campaign’s purpose and shared statistics based on previous campaigns conducted by the Health Ministry.
“Six months after our last MDA in 2021, Guyana would have shifted to its post-MDA surveillance phase. The first activity was an epidemiological monitoring survey targeting 26 filaria hotspots in 13 evaluation units,” she stated.
Further, she highlighted that three out of the 26 hotspots were above the recommended threshold. The Ministry of Health is encouraging all community members in the targeted regions to participate and receive their medication to curb the spread of the infection. (G9)
