Pacelf.org
Title
Pac Elf - Elimination Of Lymphatic Filariasis in the South Pacific
Description
PacELF is the Pacific programme for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis. It was formed in 1999 to coordinate the control efforts in Pacific Island Countries (PICs), and works within the framework of the global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
PacELF, the first regional filariasis elimination programme, is a network of the twenty-two island countries and territories in the Pacific for the sole purpose of eliminating filariasis in the Pacific by the year 2010. The strategy for achieving this goal is annual mass drug administration (MDA) using diethylcarbamazine (DEC) with albendazole to stop transmission together with clinical management of infections to minimize pathodema in individuals already infected.
Many people have done a substantial amount of work in several PICs over the last few decades to control and eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem. In the latter half of the 1990s, a number of events and activities brought LF to a higher profile. Several countries had been working more or less independently on LF control. In Fiji, the late Dr Mataika and his staff made substantial progress in mapping and instigating programs in areas of that country, while in Samoa, the Ministry of Health supported by WHO conducted annual mass drug administration with different drug regimens. In French Polynesia, the Ministry of Health and Institute Malarde, as a pioneer institute of Pacific filariasis, had also been very active in LF control and studies.
Languages
English
