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Case study
Eliminating LF - ten years on
January 2008 marked ten years since GSK committed to donating as many doses of albendazole, our anti-parasitic drug, as are needed to eliminate LF, one of the world's leading causes of permanent disability.
In 2007 GSK donated 150 million treatments of albendazole to 19 countries. Since the programme began we have donated almost 750 million tablets and over 130 million people have been treated at least once. We estimate that 24 million babies born in the treated regions since the programme started have been spared the risk of contracting LF.
Each country aiming to eliminate LF must treat all at risk people once a year for at least five years. So far, Egypt, several Pacific Island countries, Sri Lanka, Zanzibar and Togo have completed five annual mass drug administrations. These countries are monitoring their populations to evaluate the impact of the programme. Assessments conducted in Egypt and Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation, showed that LF has been eliminated in most areas of the countries.
