–aims for total elimination by 2020

THE official launch of the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign was held at the Stabroek Market Square on Thursday. The one-month exercise will see health officials visiting homes and schools to administer the drugs.

Under this year’s ‘Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination’ Campaign, the Ministry Of Public Health will be implementing its triple-drug therapy. The triple-drug therapy is the combination of three types of tablets that will be useful in eliminating the virus.
Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence, speaking at the launch said that the government is committed to achieving complete elimination of this virus, and giving as many of its citizens the chance to live healthy lives.

“Guyana has made tremendous progress in recent years, in the roll-out of mass drug distribution. We have been able to have a coverage of 85 per cent, and this is thanks to our doctors who ensure that these medications are distributed throughout the length and breadth of Guyana,” Minister Lawrence said.

She further stated that the ministry has done extensive research to ensure that all of the medication that will be distributed have been tested, and have met the safety requirements for distribution to the general public. The minister also disclosed that based on the statistics received from research, the drug distribution exercise will be targetting eight out of Guyana’s ten administrative regions, and that Regions Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) have shown to have a lower level of persons affected by this virus.

Guyana has made tremendous progress in the fight against filaria, however, the objective is for the elimination of the disease by 2020, she said.
Also speaking at the launch of the ministry’s ‘Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination’ Campaign was Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Gordon-Campbell, who spoke about Guyana’s progression in relation to eliminating and combatting the disease. “We are poised to reach elimination status by next year,” Dr. Gordon-Campbell said. “If we get it right this year and next year, I am confident that if we work together, we can make it happen. The power to make it happen is in your hands.”

In conjunction with the theme of this year’s campaign, ‘We share because we care’, Dr. Gordon-Campbell further called on members of the public to work with the distributing agents, and take the medication that they will be distributing to ensure they receive the necessary protection from the virus.

Distribution of the tablets was slated to begin October 31 at schools and residences so as to give everyone an opportunity to have access to it. The ministry is advising that pregnant women, severely ill persons and persons shorter than 90 centimetres, as well as persons less than or equal to 15 kilograms body weight will not be permitted to take the medication. Further, the dosages for this distribution cycle will be determined by the height of each individual.

The tablets will not only be useful in combatting this virus, but also holds additional benefits with other viruses such as head lice, scabies and worms.
The Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with PAHO, has been working for years to combat and eliminate the threat of this disease to persons in the country, using several avenues.

Lymphatic Filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic thread-like worms. The adult worms only live in the human lymph system. The lymph system maintains the body’s fluid balance and fights infections. Lymphatic Filariasis is spread from person to person by the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito.

People with the disease can suffer from lymphedema and elephantiasis, and in men swelling of the scrotum, called hydrocele. Lymphatic Filariasis is a leading cause of permanent disability worldwide.