Ranchi: Health Minister Banna Gupta said that the state government was committed to the eradication of Filaria.
He said that a mass drug administration program will be run from February 22 to 27 in Sahibganj Bokaro Dhanbad and Ramgarh districts during which trained healthcare personnel will be providing medicines for battling Filaria to the people free of cost.
Virtually starting the mass drug administration program in these four districts he said that the people should take these medicines in front of the trained health personnel. He said that his department was committed to realise the dream of making a healthy and prosperous Jharkhand.
Banna Gupta said that it should be ensured that no person should take the medicine empty stomach. He said that under the MDA program children who are less than 2 years of age pregnant women and people battling serious diseases according to their age are given the medicines against Filaria by the trained healthcare staff only.
The health minister directed the Mission Director Ravi Shankar Shukla to establish coordination with the DCs of all the four districts and ensure that the program is a success and more and more people are covered under it. He said that all the people who have been infected with Filaria in the state their list should be prepared so that eye can be kept on their health and they can be provided proper treatment.
State program officer for vector-borne diseases Dr S N Jha said that under this program the state government has set a target to provide the medicine to 71.04 lakh people. He said that people battling Filaria have to undergo extreme pain and are also subjected to social discrimination which impacts their mode of earning and working capacity. He said that compared to women and children the possibility of having the disease in the male is double therefore it is important that the people to keep themselves and their family members safe at least once in a year take anti-Filaria medicines.
Those present in the virtual kick off program included the DCs all the four districts and officials from the health and family welfare department.