Filaria eradication campaign in city

BHUBANESWAR: The State Health Department has started a threeday polio eradication campaign in the Capital city by way of mass administration of diethyl carbomazine (DEC) drug among the people under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.

The campaign was launched by Health Minister Prasanna Acharya by administering the dose along with albendazole at Capital Hospital here yesterday.

THE campaign aims at administration of DEC doses to 8.50 lakh people through the Capital Hospital and 11 zonal hospitals under the municipal corporation. About 1,700 health workers have been engaged by the department to carry out the job.

The campaign was launched across the State last month with the goal of eradicating filariasis by 2015. The mass administration of DEC has been undertaken in 20 districts endemic to the disease covering over 2.62 crore population.

According to estimates, filariasis parasite is found in about 0.59 per cent population of the State while as high as 3.6 per cent people are affected in Bhubaneswar. The campaign also strives to increase awareness among the people on the disease.