Lymfatic filariasis - we emphasize elimination

Abstract

Lymfatic filariasis (LF) is a disease that strikes a big part of the poor world.The final stage of the disease leads to loss of working capacity and therefore increasing poverty. The disease is acknowledged by the WHO to be eradicable. In 1997 The World Health Assembly was established and the shaping of an elimination programme started. The programme was made possible through donations from pharmaceutical companies.

The fight against LF has two aspects; the fight preventing spread of infection and treatment of the already infected. The fight of infection is based on administration of medication through nationally composed programmes. The increasing understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease has led to better possibilities of treating patients with established LF. One has discovered that it is mainly the secondary infections that cause the clinical manifestations, and not the filariaworm itself.

In 2002 almost 55 million people was included in the programme to eliminate LF. This was fare beyond the goals of the programs for 2002. The main goal is to acheive total elimination by 2020.