Health authority board member queries drug doses

DOSAGES being used during the first round of the mass drug awareness (MDA) programme on lymphatic filariasis has been queried following reports of side effects by people.
East New Britain health authority (PHA) board member representing the Catholic church in the province, Moses Boganri, said the matter needed to be addressed by medical experts before the MDA’s next round this year.
A meeting held by the PHA board on the LFMDA task force committee last week revealed that the dosage used was on specific instruction and guidelines from the World Health Organisation.
Boganri said the first round of the LFMDA used the height to measure dosage instead of weight which was used during a previous MDA in New Ireland but under the former two-drug regime.
He also said although the province’s overall coverage of the MDA rollout reached the 90 per cent mark the task force committee was reminded that some health facilities had recorded good coverage but they also had numerous clinical cases of people living with lymphatic filariasis and a lot of people had missed out on treatment last year.
Data presented last week by the PHA board, which included the results from the LFMDA roll out last year, was endorsed for the planning of the second round of MDA this year.
The first round of the LFMDA roll out programme was from last Nov 4-8 which was roll out to the various educational institutions and the business community as well as the rural communities at the ward level in each of the four districts of the province.