Filaria numbers to be reduced to one percent by 2020

Oct 27, 2016 News

Reducing the disease burden of Lymphatic Filariasis to below one percent by the year 2020, is the ambitious goal envisioned by the government through its Ministry of Public Health.

(Seated L-R) Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle, Minister Dr. Karen Cummings, PAHO/WHO Country Rep. Dr. William Adu-Krow and Director, Regional Health Services, Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Kay Shako in the company of participants of the recent meeting.

Lymphatic filariasis is caused by the Wuchereria bancrofti (W. Bancrofti) which is a human parasitic roundworm. Infection occurs when filarial parasites are transmitted to humans through mosquitoes.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the painful and profoundly disfiguring visible manifestations of the disease lymphoedema, elephantiasis and scrotal swelling occur later in life and lead to permanent disability.
However, WHO has revealed that lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease.
But Guyana has been making efforts to eliminate the disease by embarking on the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Programme in 1999 with a goal of interrupting transmission of W. Bancrofti and reducing the disease burden.
Initial activities to attain this goal began in 2003 with the countrywide programme that saw the promotion of the use of salt fortified with Diethylcarbamazine (DEC).
Moreover, Guyana through a Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programme organized and executed by the Vector Control Services Unit of the Ministry of Public Health, with support from the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) has been making steady progress towards the elimination of lymphatic filariasis
A review meeting to assess the MDA activities of 2016 and to strategically plan for 2017 was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre. This meeting was held in keeping with the Ministry’s plan to scale up national efforts to control and eliminate the disease in Guyana.
Stakeholders from various sectors across Guyana were invited to participate in the review meeting and planning sessions. This collaborative strategic planning effort is in line with the Ministry of Public Health’s commitment to establishing meaningful stakeholder engagements to address public health issues affecting the Guyanese population.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of this forum, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, observed that since Guyana launched the MDA programme in 2003, many Guyanese have benefited in prodigious ways, resulting in a significant reduction of new cases of Lymphatic Filariasis in the country.
Although there have been some peripheral challenges in the initial roll-out of the MDA programme in Guyana, the Minister said she was very pleased that the programme has prevailed.
She also noted that the review meeting has come at an opportune time as the Ministry remains resolutely determined to eradicate lymphatic filariasis in Guyana. “Eradicating this disease in Guyana is a paramount priority of the Ministry of Public Health. Therefore, it is very important that shared interventions such as health education, community based action, distribution of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets, and mass drug administration form part of the affirmative action to be taken,” the Minister said.
The Minister emphasized that in order to ensure full geographic coverage of morbidity-management and disability prevention services, programme managers must first understand the number and geographic distribution of patients.
With this knowledge, programme managers can ensure facilities are providing services in all areas in which there are known patients and work to ensure the quality of those services is maintained at its optimum level.
As a consequence of this two-day meeting, it is expected that even more creative ways will be generated to deal with this lymphatic filariasis which is viewed as a debilitating disease.

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