Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 10, 2017 News
There are many health conditions that can literally render a patient incapacitated and even with treatment some of these can lead to their demise. While lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis or filaria, has the same incapacitating capabilities, it is one disease that is not known to be associated with fatal outcomes.
This therefore means that such a health condition could have a severe burden on a country’s economy. This is in light of the fact that because of the debilitating nature of the disease, many patients are unable to be productive citizens. At the same time, these patients are still required to have treatment so that they can cope with the effects of the disease, including swelling and pain.
The disease is one that affects the lymphatic system which is a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins, waste and other unwanted materials. The primary function of the lymphatic system, therefore, is to transport lymph, a fluid containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body.
Now imagine the resulting dire consequence when this bodily function is undermined by a disease such as filaria.
The World Health Organisation [WHO] has classified filaria as a painful and profoundly disfiguring disease which is caused by parasites classified as nematodes or roundworms of the family Filariodidea. These parasites are transmitted by the Culex mosquitoes, which like other tropical mosquitoes, thrive in stagnant water.
Although the disease could take several years to manifest, when it does, it could include, among other things, swelling of the lower limbs and arms, breasts and scrotum. But the associated swelling and pain are not the only consequence of the disease. Stigma and discrimination, because of the disfiguring nature of the disease, can also have a psychological effect on patients as well.
This is according to Dr. Allena Hercules, who is currently attached to the Vector Control Services Unit of the Ministry of Public Health. She has been playing an integral role in the fight against filaria by helping to administer care to patients suffering from the disease.
She revealed that some patients are disfigured to the point that they are unable to work, thus a family could lose its main or even sole breadwinner if this disease is allowed to advance. Added to this, she revealed that some patients opt to isolate themselves because of the stigma linked to the visible signs and symptoms of the disease.
“Sometimes when we try to tell people about the disease, some of them say we have never seen anybody with it. But the situation is that filaria is a disease…and when it does manifest, you are not going to see the entire population of people with filaria walking about, because people may choose to hide themselves away because of the signs and symptoms they may develop,” Dr. Hercules explained.
As such she noted, “Even though it is not fatal, there are economical and psychological constraints that can arise, and when people have these things affecting them, it could be just as bad as if they are about to die.”
“Many patients have difficulties with their daily lives, it is not easy to have to deal with the possibility of becoming disable and dependent,” Dr. Hercules underscored.
But war has been waged against filaria. According to Dr. Hercules, the Public Health Ministry is not taking the potential impact of the disease lightly. As such the Ministry recently launched a campaign to help prevent the spread of the disease.
The distribution of pills to kill the parasites that cause filaria started in Region 5, on October 2, last, and is slated to be taken to Linden this week and to Regions Four and Three in the following weeks.
This campaign, which is being done in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation [PAHO/WHO], is one that is designed to distribute filaria prevention pills to more than half of the population. This, according to Dr. Hercules, will see trained Pill Distributors visiting workplaces, schools, homes and other areas with large gathering of people to distribute pills that can help to protect them from filaria. The pills being distributed are DEC or Diethylcarbamazine and albendazole.
Dr. Hercules disclosed that while taking the pills are completely optional, it is recommended that persons recognise that adherence could in fact mean an improved quality of life for them in the long run.
“One of the main reasons persons refuse the pills is because of a lack of knowledge, they say it is not a problem for them,” noted Dr. Hercules. It is for this very reason, she revealed, that the Ministry has introduced a mass media awareness drive which is designed to educate people about the disease.
“We have been raising awareness by spreading information on the television, radio, newspaper, face to face and we have even been going to business places to educate people about this disease.”
The outcome, according to Dr. Hercules, is that a number of people who were bent on refusing the pills in the past are now accepting the reality that it could help to protect them and their loved ones too.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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