The goal of the National Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (NPELF) is to eliminate LF by 2010.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the Secretariat of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis and provides technical and financial support. Detailed information (endemicity, MDA, monitoring and evaluation) on this and other NPELF can be found on www.who.int/lymphatic_filariais. |
Country data
Population |
1,161,629 (2006) |
Endemicity |
The whole country is endemic for LF |
Clinical manifestations |
Lymphoedema: 1,824 recorded cases; Hydrocoele: 1,577 recorded cases |
Drug regime |
Albendazole – donated by GlaxoSmithKline
Mectizan® - donated by Merck & Co. Inc. |
MDA implementation cycle |
October 2001-2004; August 2005; December 2006 |
Treatment strategy |
Door-to-Door |
Social mobilisation |
COMBI Plan fully used. Awareness planned according to local characteristics and backed up by community meetings and country mass media - radio, TV etc |
Vector control |
The malaria programme is distributing insecticide treated nets (ITN) to pregnant mothers and children <5 years, at low cost |
Co-implementation |
Soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis |
Recognition
Filaria species |
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Wuchereria bancrofti |
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Onchocerca volvulus |
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Loa loa |
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Mansonella perstans |
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Vectors |
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Anopheles gambiae complex |
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Simulium damnosum sl |
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Culex quinquefasciatus |
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Culicoides spp. |
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An. funestus |
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S. naevis |
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Diagnostics |
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ICT |
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Blood slide |
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Skin snips |
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Blood smears; Mazotti reaction |
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Night blood smears |
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REMO |
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Skin biopsies |
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Counting Chamber |
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Capacity Building
Year |
Type of training |
Cadre |
Number trained |
2001 |
LF disease epidemiology and strategies for control, including MDA |
District health management team (DHMT) staff (NPELF - district teams) |
62 |
| Basic knowledge of LF disease, its transmission and MDA activities including drug distribution |
Drug distributors |
4161 |
2002 |
Review of LF disease epidemiology and strategies for control, including MDA |
DHMT staff (NPELF - district teams) |
62 |
| Basic knowledge of LF disease, its transmission and MDA activities including drug distribution |
Drug distributors |
4161 |
2003 |
Home-based care on lymphoedema management |
DHMT staff (NPELF - district teams) + PHCU Health Staff in-charge |
12 |
| LF Home-based care on lymphoedema management |
Community Informal Carers |
20 |
| LF Home-based care on lymphoedema management |
Lymphoedema patients and family members |
32 |
2004 |
Hydrocelectomy |
District medical doctors |
10 |
2005 |
Home-based care on lymphoedema management |
Community informal carers |
200 |
Home-based care on lymphoedema management |
Lymphoedema patients and their family members |
702 |
Programme Support & Partnerships
The NPELF is included in both the national and district (IU) level budgets
Disability prevention programme
| a. |
The programme has trained several cadres of health workers and others in the "Home-based Management" of lymphoedema patients, using WHO developed modules. Those who received training include District Health Management Team members responsible for the NPELF in their districts, Health Staff in charge at Primary Health Care Units, Informal Carers and LF lymphoedema patients. All trained LF patients are followed up to check progress. |
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| b. |
With hydrocelectomy, 10 medical doctors (one from each district) attended one week workshops training on hydrocelectomy. Since then several hydrocoele operations have been performed in district hospitals with a good number in the southern district of both islands, where the nubmer of cases are higher than in other districts. However, there are several cases that need operations, but lack of funding is a constraint. |
Budget Line
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has a small budget line for LF at the National Level.
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