Bangladesh expects to eradicate filariasis in 2 yrs
BSS
Bangladesh expects to eradicate Lymphatic Filariasis, a parasitic worm-infected disease over the next two years. The disease causes swelling of parts of human body, with health officials saying their campaign so far succeeded in eradicating the menace from 18 out of 19 hyper endemic districts, reports BSS. In 2001, we had identified 19 districts as hyper endemic of filariasis. The disease still persists in Rangpur, but it may take at least two years more to wipe out it from there as well, said director of Filariasis Hospital in suburban Savar and former director of communicable disease control of health directorate Professor Moazzem Haque.
Talking to BSS on the sidelines of a workshop at the health directorate, Haque said a number of people with filariasis, however, were still being seen in the capital and several other major cities who, he said, actually hailed from Rangpur or northwestern region for livelihood mostly as street beggars.
Bangladesh launched the National Filariasis Elimination Programme in 2001 with an aim to eliminate it by 2015 in response to the World Health Organisation (WHO) that has launched global programme to wipe out Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) by 2020.
Fund shortage under the programmes caused a little setback so far but we will be able to eliminate filariasis far ahead of the WHOs fixed time of 2020, Haque said. Lymphatic filariasis is a parasitic infection that can result in an altered lymphatic system and the abnormal enlargement of body parts, causing pain, severe disability and social stigma.
Haque said according to a nationwide survey in 2005 with Japanese assistance found two million people to be victims of filariasis in Bangladesh and we now should conduct another survey soon to know the present status of the filariasis patients.
He said Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) under JICA have played tremendous role in eliminating the disease, especially by encouraging the common people to take preventative medicines. The workshop titled Contribution of JOCV to eliminate of lymphatic Filariasis in Bangladesh organized by Nova Consultancy Bangla (NCB) at the conference room of Health directorate here. Upon request from Bangladesh government, JOCV programme is integrated in national filariasis elimination programme in 2004. Since then twenty eight JOCVs in close collaboration with local health care providers accessed target groups often in seven hyper endemic north Bengal districts from 2004 to 2015.
