Bhubaneswar, Aug 6: The second phase of the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign to eliminate filaria will start on August 10 and continue until August 19. The campaign aims to distribute anti-filarial medicines to 1.7 crore people across several districts in Odisha.
The campaign will cover 12 districts: Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Sonepur, and Sundargarh. It will run alongside the second round of the National Deworming Program (NDD).
Under this programme, three types of tablets—DEC (Diethylcarbamazine), Albendazole, and Ivermectin—will be provided. However, children under the age of 2, pregnant women, and seriously ill individuals will not take the medicines.
A total of 41,000 Drug Administrators will visit households to ensure the medicines are taken. These administrators include ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, self-help group members, and other volunteers. Their work will be monitored by 4,100 supervisors. The goal is to ensure at least 90% of the targeted population takes the medication in front of the administrators.
The Odisha government has urged the cooperation of various departments, including Panchayati Raj, School and Mass Education, Women and Child Development, and others, to make the campaign successful.
