Japanese pharma giant Eisai has begun its free supply of medicine to help eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
Japanese pharma giant Eisai has begun its free supply of medicine to help eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) in the developing world. As a signatory of the London Declaration on NTDs, the company pledged in 2012 to donate 2.2 billion tablets of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) to 26 countries until 2020 as part of the global effort to eliminate LF.
In August 2013, Eisai received pre-qualification from the World Health Organization for DEC as efficient treatment against LF. The first DEC shipment will benefit more than six million people in four Pacific island countries – Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Fiji – where LF is endemic. The company plans to provide a steady supply over the next seven years for distribution through WHO’s mass drug administration programmes.
WHO estimates 120 million people in tropical and subtropical areas of the world are infected with LF.
Read more at Partnership in Practice, and read Eisai's press release.