0:00
This talk is
about the diseases associated
with lymphatic filariasis, a
parasitic infection transmitted
by mosquitoes.
My name is Professor David Molyneux,
from the Center for Neglected
Tropical Diseases at the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine.
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Lymphatic filariasis
has been described
as a potentially eradicable disease.
The international task force
identified six diseases in 1993
which could be eradicated
from Planet Earth.
That means that no longer,
any of these organisms
would be on the planet.
Lymphatic filariasis was
amongst those infections.
The World Health Assembly, in 1997,
passed a resolution which called
for the elimination of
lymphatic filariasis
as a public health problem.
The first series of
slides in this lecture
demonstrate the public health
problem experienced by millions
of people who are infected
by this condition.
1:04
All these slides were
taken in the field,
and the quotes are
from the patients who
are suffering from these infections.
As you will see, they cause
significant disability.
They stigmatize people.
They reduce their capacity to work.
And they have a significant impact
on the productivity of populations
across the endemic
areas of the globe.
