The state government has set a target of administering anti-filarial drugs to more than 71 lakh people free of cost across four districts in Jharkhand during a five-day mass drug administration (MDA) programme scheduled to begin on Monday.

The government will run the programme in Sahebganj, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Ramgarh from February 22 to February 27, health minister Banna Gupta said on Sunday while inaugurating the MDA programme online.

Urging people to take the drugs, Gupta said, “The success of the filaria eradication programme depends on our credibility among people and our way of working. The disease has to be eradicated, the patients have to be saved and the vision of healthy and prosperous Jharkhand has to be realized.”

Children below the age of two, pregnant women and most seriously ill people irrespective of their age will not be administered the drugs during the programme, said Gupta, adding that no person should take the medicine in an empty stomach.

Filariasis is caused by filarial worms and can trigger abnormal growth in the infected person. The abnormal swelling in legs caused by filariasis is commonly referred to as elephantiasis, said doctors.

State programme officer, Vector Borne Diseases, Dr. S.N. Jha said that in this MDA programme, a target has been set by the state government to provide medicine to 71,04,911 people. He said that this filariasis infection in childhood causes damage to the lymphatic system, causing abnormal swelling in a person's body parts. People suffering from filariasis also have to suffer severe pain and social discrimination, which also affects their livelihood and ability to work.

“In comparison to women and children, men are twice as likely to develop this infection. It is very important that all people should take anti-filarial medicines given free of cost by trained health workers once a year to protect themselves and their family from this infection,” he said.

Gupta directed state health director Ravi Shankar Shukla to coordinate with deputy commissioners of the four districts to ensure the success of the five-day MDA programme. In addition, he directed that all the patients infected with filariasis in the state should be enlisted so that their health could be closely monitored and their disease treated properly.