The Health and Economic Burdens of Lymphatic Filariasis Prior to Mass Drug Administration Programs
Christopher G Mathew, Alison A Bettis, Brian K Chu, Mike English, Eric A Ottesen, Mark H Bradley, Hugo C Turner
The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) was launched in 2000 with the goal of eliminating lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem by 2020. Despite considerable progress, the current prevalence is around 60% of the 2000 figure, with the deadline looming a year away. Consequently, there is a continued need for investment in both the mass drug administration (MDA) and morbidity management programs, and this paper aims to demonstrate that need by estimating the health and economic burdens of LF prior to MDA programs starting in GPELF areas.