DOH warns of rainy season disease

MANILA, Philippines — Besides dengue and leptospirosis, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) warn of another endemic disease every rainy season.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF), a parasitic infection spread by mosquitoes, is found in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and the Americas. WHO considers the disease a burden in rural communities.

LF, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is one of the world’s leading causes of disability. Symptoms can include chronic swelling of the legs, arms and male genitals. 

People with LF are also less able to resist common skin infections, resulting in a cruel cycle of fevers and painful swellings. In its severest form, LF leads to elephantiasis, a crippling condition in which the limbs are swollen with marked thickening of the skin and underlying tissues.

WHO estimates that 856 million people in 52 countries are living in areas where LF is transmitted and are at risk of being infected. In the Philippines, it was reported in the year 2000 that over 25 million people live in LF-endemic areas.

During the 1st ASEAN Lymphatic Filariasis Forum 2018 in July, which was held in Manila, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III stressed, “The DOH is ready to take the challenge of eliminating filariasis in the country by being more responsive through the DOH’s revitalized agenda of Fourmula 1 Plus for Health.”

Fourmula1 Plus for Health is a DOH strategy focusing on health financing, health service delivery network, health regulation, governance in health and performance accountability. 

Following almost two decades of successful LF elimination efforts by the Philippine government, the DOH reported that only eight provinces remain endemic for LF out of the 46 earlier established. 

To ensure the success against LF, Duque devised a Formula E approach, which stands for Engagement and Everybody. Engagement is where government needs to share its resources and expertise with other stakeholders including local governments, and Everybody is where the whole of government or the whole-of-society approach should be adapted by leaders to ensure that all interventions are aligned and inter-connected, the DOH reported.

In the Philippines, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has donated over 255 million albendazole tablets over the last 17 years. This small white tablet is part of the fight to eliminate LF. By the end of the year, the company projects this donation to reach 261 million tablets in support of its goal to help eliminate LF in the Philippines by 2020.

“The Philippine Government, through the DOH, is to be commended for its achievement in the elimination of LF in many provinces in the last two decades.  This is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the government at the national and local government units, especially the health workers delivering treatments on the ground. We, in (the company), remain committed to playing our part with the global donation of albendazole for as long as it is needed to replicate this success throughout the remaining eight endemic provinces, freeing Filipino communities from the burden of LF,”GSK Philippines General Manager Sriram Jambunathan said.