Recommendations of the Regional Programme Review Group

The WHO South-East (SE) Asia Region accounts for over 60% of the global burden of lymphatic filariasis (LF), with about 56% of the target population requiring preventive chemotherapy (PC) for soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) globally and a small population at the risk of schistosomiasis (SCH) transmission.

Out of the nine LF-endemic countries in the Region, five had stopped mass drug administration (MDA) and three of the remaining four countries continued it in 2021. Of the 1072 implementation units (IUs), MDA was stopped in 725 units (68%) as of 2021 and in the remaining 347 IUs, 262 million instances of treatment, or drug packages, were provided and administered in 2021, with a coverage of 52.2%. Bangladesh is preparing the LF elimination validation dossier and Timor-Leste met the criteria to stop LF MDA nationally.