South-East Asia

World Health Organization, South-East Asia

According to the 2019 WHO Weekly Epidemiological Report MDA was required for 523.4 million people in 5 of the 9 LF-endemic countries. For the second year in a row, MDA was implemented in all endemic districts of Indonesia. Timor-Leste achieved 100% geographical coverage and improved programme coverage for the third consecutive year. Myanmar maintained MDA and achieved effective coverage in each IU. Sentinel and spot-check surveys conducted in 2018 indicated that 21 IUs in Myanmar were eligible for TAS. Nepal achieved effec- tive coverage in 21 of 24 IUs requiring MDA, 10 of which also qualified and passed TAS1 in 2018. India implemented MDA in 130 of 163 districts in which it was required. The number of districts that required MDA in India increased over that in 2017 because of identification of new districts considered to be endemic and districts that failed a TAS, resulting in 13.7 million more people requiring MDA. The cumulative reduction in the total population requiring MDA in the Region is 403.4 million people.

The treatment regime in all SEARO endemic countries is albendazole plus DEC (diethylcarbamazine).

Further information on the SEARO LF programme can be found here

The South-East Asia Programme Review Group (RPRG) the body which reviews national programmes, applications for drug donations, povides technical guidance and identifies oeprational research issues is chaired by:
 

Nyoman Kandun
E: n [dot] kandun [at] yahoo [dot] com

See WHO Weekly Epidemiological Report for the full detailed report