POKHARA: The government has begun a special campaign to eradicate elephantiasis in the country today.

According to Epidemiology and Disease Control Division and Elephantiasis Elimination Programme, the campaign is aimed at eradicating the disease from the 60 districts across the country, where the filaria patients are reported exist. The disease has not been diagnosed among the people those residing in high hilly and mountainous regions.

As part of the campaign, about 500 volunteers would be deployed to provide medicine to over four lakh people in the districts, according to technician of district public health office (DPHO), Kaski, Homnath Lamichhane.

He informed that the volunteers would visit the locals’ houses to give away the medicine. The medicine is given only to person above 2 years of age. Such medicine was also given last year but was stopped shortly following public complaints regarding its side effects.

According to him, some persons might feel dizzy, and suffer from headache and fever after consuming the medicine, which is not abnormal though. This disease is transferred from one person to another by mosquitoes. According to Health Education Officer Kaski DPHO, Dambar Bahadur Baniya, the person affected from the disease has symptoms of fever and shivering.

“If the disease is not treated in time, the patient’s body starts swelling and kidney does not function properly.” Prior to distributing the medicines, various awareness programmes were organised in various parts. About six crore people are believed to have been affected by the diseases in south Asia.