Why is LF a public health problem?
Worldwide 1.1 billion people are at risk of infection and about 120 million people are infected in 83 countries. Nine out of the 11 countries in the South-East Asia (SEA) Region are known to be endemic for filariasis(The 2 non-endemic countries are Bhutan and DPR Korea). More than 63% of the global population at risk and half of the global infected cases are from the SEA region. It is, therefore, one of the major public health problems in the SEA Region.
