Filariasis is a major public health problem in India. Filariasis is a disease caused by the presence of a parasitic worm in the lymph vessels. Whenever the disease becomes chronic, it is irreversible. The disease has been prevalent throughout India except Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram,Meghalaya,Tripura, Manipur, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Sikkim and Nagaland. Present estimate indicates that about 381 million people are living in 176 known endemic districts of which about 101 million are living in urban areas and the rest in rural areas. (Annual Report 1991-92, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, 1992).
For the control of filariasis, the National Filaria Control Programme was launched in 1955. Under the programme, the following activities are being undertaken :
i) defining the problem in the surveyed area to surveyed areas and
ii) control in Urban areas through;
- recurrent anti-larval measures, and
- anti-parasitic measures.
At present, about 42.60 million people in urban areas are being protected through anti-larval measures by 204 control units. 192 clinics are giving treatment to clinical cases and microfilaria carriers.
It is observed that in 90 per cent of the towns where control measures are in operation for more than five years, marked reduction in microfilaria rates have been reported.
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