States, UTs asked to monitor campaign to defeat Lympathic Filarisis: Nadda

Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Monday urged states and UTs to monitor the Lymphatic Filariasis elimination campaign and ensure the involvement of the political and administrative leadership at the identified district levels.

He was speaking at the launch of the annual nationwide Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) elimination through a video conference with state health ministers and senior officers of 13 identified LF endemic states.

The minister emphasised on the whole-of-government approach and said other ministries and departments can be roped in to support campaign activities.

Nadda also requested the state health ministers to involve elected representatives, especially MLAs and MLCs as well as Panchayati Raj Institutions and encourage their active participation to help mobilise communities to effectively implement MDA activities.

He stressed on utilising digital platforms for collecting the data on how many were administered the drug, the gaps in the campaign and to detect if there was any shortage of drug.

While congratulating Uttar Pradesh and Odisha for their work on Filariasis elimination, he emphasised on roping in women associated with self-help groups for making the campaign successful.

The campaign covers 111 endemic districts across 13 states with door-to-door administration of filaria prevention medications.

Lymphatic Filarisis is caused by parasitic worms and leads to abnormal enlargement of body parts.