— Health Minister says 70 per cent coverage achieved in MDA
FOR years, Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), commonly known as filaria, has been a public health problem in Guyana but after achieving a 70 per cent coverage in the 2021 round of the Mass Drug Administration (MDA), Guyana is on target to eliminate the disease.
On Wednesday, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony noted that the MDA which had been ongoing across Guyana since February came to an end recently. Since the country achieved successful coverage in prior rounds of the MDA, this round of the MDA should be the last, since enough citizens took their pills over the past few weeks.
“Overall our assessment is that we have achieved 70 per cent of the population would have received their filaria pills,” Dr. Anthony said on Wednesday. He added: “We were aiming to get 65 per cent so we have exceeded it.”
The aim of the MDA was to have at least 65 per cent of the population consume the ‘filaria pills’- Diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC), Albendazole (ALB) and Ivermectin (IVM). These pills sterilise and kill the worms that cause filaria.
There was a very specific dosing schedule that determines how many pills persons are required to take. All persons were measured by trained pill distributors using a ‘dosing pole’ which measures from 90cm to 160cm. This dosing schedule rigidly guides the distribution of the pills, and numerous studies done in other countries show the effectiveness of Ivermectin.
During this MDA, the health authorities trained 1400 pill distributors, some 170 field officers, 20 regional coordinators and eight national supervisors, spanning about 130 health facilities across the country.
Importantly, the Health Minister indicated that the local authorities are still wrapping up the final count, and as such, he believed that the country could record a high coverage.
On Tuesday, on the Health Ministry’s Facebook page, notices were published stating that if persons did not receive their pills, they can visit their nearest health centres to get those. It is not clear if this is still occurring as Dr. Anthony, on Wednesday, said that the exercise has wrapped up.
Now that the MDA is complete, the numbers will be finalised before being verified by the Pan-American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO). According to Dr. Anthony, once those authorities are satisfied with the MDA and have verified the numbers, they will, subsequently, certify Guyana as being free from filaria.
Dr. Anthony reminded that the country has been battling filaria for a long time. The country attempted an MDA before, but it was unsuccessful. Now, however, the country may finally be able to get rid of the disease.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), filaria affects the body’s lymphatic system, which functions to remove unwanted fluids from the body and transports ‘lymph’- a fluid which contains white blood cells that help to fight infections. It is caused by bancrofti worms and is transmitted by culex mosquitoes.
Importantly, if someone is infected with filaria, they may develop chronic conditions, resulting in swelling of the legs and scrotum. Locally, the swelling of tissues in the leg is called ‘big foot,’ while scrotal swelling is termed ‘goadie.’ There is no cure for filaria, which means that these chronic manifestations are irreversible.
In addition to these chronic conditions, persons may be unable to work and provide for themselves, thereby resulting in adverse economic implications. There are also various mental stigmas that belabours those infected. Though the density of Filaria may be reduced now, those persons who have already been affected will have to continue seeking care.
