WHO declares Sri Lanka Filaria free

Declaring Sri Lanka as a Filaria free country, the World Health Organization has said that it will award the certificate in this regard this week.

Director of South Asian Affairs of the World Health Organization Poonam Singh who is scheduled to visit the country, on July 21 will present the certificate to the Ministry of Health Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, reports Colombo Page.

World Health Organization in a report last month said that significant progress against neglected tropical diseases in WHO South-East Asia Region, Maldives and Sri Lanka have eliminated lymphatic filariasis, a disease that was crippling people for decades, forcing them to lead a life of stigma, discrimination and poverty.

So far, around 120 million Filaria patients have been reported from 72 countries in the world.

Out of them one third has been reported from India and the rest are reported from South Asian, African and Latin American countries.

Meanwhile, Director General of Health Services Dr. Palitha Mahipala hailed the declaration saying it's a special occasion for being the second Southeast Asian country to free of the disease.

The other country to successfully eradicate Filaria is Maldives.