As it moves to begin its third round of lymphatic filariasis Mass Drug Administration (MDA), the Ministry of Public Health is looking for help from private citizens and the private sector so that it can better reach the rural and hinterland regions of Guyana.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) Karen Gordon-Boyle told reporters at a press conference yesterday that if Guyana is to achieve its goal of being a non-endemic country for filariasis, it needs to move beyond fighting the disease only in the more urban areas of regions Three, Four, Five and Ten.
She noted that while the current method has resulted in 86 per cent coverage in the four regions targeted, it would take another three years to cover the entire country using this strategy. As a result, the MDA, which previously utilised only Albendazole and Diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC), is now being augmented to a triple drug therapy.
