Evaluation of mass drug administration programme for elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Nalgonda district, Telangana, India

Background: Lymphatic filariasis is an important public health problem in India. Nalgonda district of Telangana is one of the endemic districts where Mass Drug Administration programme is undertaken every year to eliminate lymphatic filariasis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the coverage and compliance rates of the MDA programme conducted during December 2015. Methods: The guidelines of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) was used to select a total of 131 households from three villages and one urban ward using three stage random sampling. Each household was visited by a team and data was recorded on structured questionnaire. Data was compiled on Windows excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS software version 21. Results: The study population consisted of 523 individuals from 131 households, out of which 498 (95.21%) were eligible for mass drug administration. The study revealed that coverage rate, compliance rate and effective compliance rate were 73.29%, 72.05% and 52.81% respectively. Fear of side effects (76.47%) and being unaware of the benefits (21.56%) were the main reasons for non-compliance. Side effects were reported by only 1.14% of cases. Conclusions: The study reveals that the programme managers at all levels must ensure the upgradation of coverage rates by involving more human resources, supervision and incentive linked to work-output and enhance compliance by intense information, education and communication activities.