Ranchi: Union health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and his counterpart in the state, Irfan Ansari, on Tuesday jointly launched the mass drug administration drive against filariasis across 14 districts.Nadda attended the ceremonial launch virtually.Speaking on the occasion, Ansari said, “The drive starting from today will continue across 91 blocks of 14 filaria-affected districts of the state till Feb 25. The health department has set a target to cover 1.75 crore people.”During the drive, two medicines — Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and Albendazole will be administered in 11 districts — East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Garhwa, Giridih, Gumla, Lohardaga, Ramgarh and Sahibganj, while three medicines namely DEC, Albendazole and Ivermectin will be given in three districts — Koderma, Pakur and Simdega.“Trained health workers will administer free anti-filaria medicines to the community at booths and by going door-to-door. These medicines are completely safe,” he said.Officials said that all, except for children below two years of age, pregnant women and seriously ill people, everyone should consume anti-filaria medicines.In Ranchi, the deputy development commissioner Saurabh Kumar Bhuvania inaugurated the district-level filariasis elimination campaign from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Kanke.On the occasion, Bhuvania himself took the filariasis medicine and administered medicine to school students — Sushma Kumari (17) and Nisha Kumari (15). After this, the civil surgeon and other officers also took the medicine.Bhuvania said, “There is no cure for filariasis, but it can be prevented by taking medicine on time. This disease affects a person both physically and mentally. Therefore, all citizens of the district must take this medicine.”The district administration has set a target to administer medicine to 5,57,970 people in four blocks — Rahe, Sonahatu, Tamar and Kanke — which are currently affected by the disease.“Currently 29 active cases are present in these blocks while rest 14 other blocks are free of the disease. The target is to administer medicine to a total of 5,57,970 people in these four blocks,” said an official.District Vector Borne Control Officer Dr. Shahid Karim Sabri on the other hand said that some people may experience mild side effects like headache, vomiting, dizziness, fever or diarrhoea after taking the medicine. “This reaction may occur due to the death of filariasis germs present in the body. There is no need to panic,” he said.
