Summary:
This means that Maharashtra could well become the first Indian state to adopt the therapy and achieve the elimination of LF by 2020. If required, mopping activities will have to be carried to achieve the required level of coverage. “The monitoring will help us plug the programme gaps. “Further, IDA can sustain the gains achieved in reducing the infection level and prevent further transmission,” he said.Union health minister JP Nadda announced the inclusion of the WHO-recommended triple-drug therapy to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) from the country at a meeting held in New Delhi on June 13.The new treatment regimen will be rolled-out in a phased manner in five districts — Nagpur in Maharashtra, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Arwal in Bihar, Yadgir in Karnataka and Simdega in Jharkhand.However, monitoring drug coverage is going to be crucial. Pune: As the Centre gears up to roll out triple-drug therapy against lymphatic filariasis (LF) in five districts, including one in Maharashtra, experts have emphasized on monitoring medication compliance and coverage to eliminate the disease from the country.“We are close to the target year of LF elimination and we need strategies that can accelerate/hasten the process to achieve its elimination by 2020,” senior scientist NK Ganguly, former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), told TOI.The triple-drug therapy or IDA (Ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and Albendazole) is more efficacious by clearing microfilariae by about 84%, Ganguly said, adding that two drugs in the existing mass drug administration regimen clear only 62% of microfilariae..