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Raipur : Under the National Filariasis Eradication Programme, Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign is being started from 10 February 2026 with the aim of permanent freedom from filariasis in the state of Chhattisgarh. The basic goal of this campaign is to ensure that 100 percent of the targeted beneficiaries are administered anti-filarial drugs under the direct supervision of health workers, so that the chain of transmission of the disease can be effectively broken.
As part of the preparation for effective implementation of the MDA campaign, a two-day state level training workshop was organized on 20 January 2026 at Swasthya Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Raipur. District Malaria Officer, Block Medical Officer, V.B.D. of 07 districts participated in the workshop. Consultants and technical supervisors participated. On this occasion, Dr. Rinku Sharma, Joint Director, NCVBDC, Government of India, joined through virtual medium and provided technical and policy guidance to the participants.
Director Epidemic Control Dr. Surendra Pambhoi, Regional Director Dr. Sandeep Jogdand, Dr. Sharif (CMO, Regional Office, Government of India), State Program Officer Dr. Jitendra Kumar, NPO from the World Health Organization (WHO), Delhi, State Coordinator and Zonal Coordinator, State Advisor, representatives of various partner organizations including WJCF, PCI and Global Health Strategy were present in the training workshop.
During the training it was told that the MDA campaign will be conducted in 65 development blocks of 18 districts of the state. Through Ivermectin, DEC and Albendazole (IDA) in 15 districts – Raipur (including urban), Gariaband, Balodabazar, Mahasamund, Bilaspur (including urban), Mungeli, Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi, Janjgir-Champa, Sakti, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, Surguja (including urban), Surajpur, Jashpur, Balod and Raigarh (including urban). Medication will be administered. Whereas DEC and Albendazole (DA) will be used in Bastar (Jagdalpur), Rajnandgaon and Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai districts.
Under this campaign, medicines will be provided to more than 1 crore 58 lakh population of the state through booths and door-to-door visits. Important topics like microplanning, drug and logistics management, reporting system, financial management, social awareness, media coordination and interdepartmental cooperation were discussed in detail in the training sessions.
In the workshop, special emphasis was laid on the fact that MDA is not just a medicine distribution programme, but ensuring medicine consumption is the key to its success. With this in mind, it was decided that if any beneficiary is left out during the campaign, then he will go to that place again and get the medicine taken.
It is clear that this campaign is an organized, scientific and public participation based effort towards making Chhattisgarh free from filariasis. With effective implementation, this initiative can prove to be decisive in taking the state towards a healthy and disease-free future.
