Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis ... - libdoc.who.int

P R O G R A M M E H I G H L I G H T S5IN THE COUNTRIES• In 2003, more than 70 million people in 36 countrieswere given the recommended two-drug, once-yearlytreatment of mass drug administration under the GlobalProgramme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis; thisis almost a 14% increase in the number of people coveredsince 2002. Furthermore, 52 million people inIndia were covered with diethylcarbamazine citrate(DEC) alone.• An at-risk population of 11.2 million people was coveredby a first round of MDA in 2003.• The planned national elimination programmes andrequests for donated drugs from three additional countrieswere examined and approved; they will be implementedin 2004.• GlaxoSmithKline donated 94 million albendazole tabletsto WHO, which were supplied to 34 countries foreither the first or a subsequent round of MDA.• Merck & Co., Inc. donated 65.8 million ivermectin(Mectizan®) tablets, which were supplied to eight countriescovered by the African Programme Review Groupand the Eastern Mediterranean Programme ReviewGroup. Of these, 60.2 million were donated for areasendemic for lymphatic filariasis only and 5.6 millionfor areas where lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasisare co-endemic.• WHO procured 121 million DEC tablets from prequalifiedmanufacturers and supplied them to 22 countries.• Surveys continued in all countries to complete theinitial assessment and mapping of lymphatic filariasistransmission in implementation units.IN THE REGIONS• All the six regional Programme Review Groups met in2003 and reviewed progress being made by country programmesand approved requests for cost-free supply ofdrugs.• Meetings of lymphatic filariasis elimination programmemanagers were held to enable the managersto share experience and exchange information.• A one-day fundraising workshop was organized followingthe meeting of the Mekong-Plus Regional ProgrammeReview Group and was attended by all thenational programme managers of that region.• A workshop on prevention of disability associated withlymphatic filariasis was organized jointly by the UnitedNations Children’s Fund/United Nations DevelopmentProgramme/World Bank/WHO Special Programmefor Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR)and the WHO Programme for the Elimination of LymphaticFilariasis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in November2003. The workshop was attended by participants fromBangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines,Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.• Training was carried out in all Programme ReviewGroup regions on the interruption of transmission andon disability prevention, as shown in the table below.Annual Report on Lymphatic Filariasis 2003Programme highlights