April 2005

Tummy team in East Timor

Former Department of Human Services’ Communicable Diseases Section public health nurse Megan Counahan is now working in the world’s newest country—Timor-Leste.

Her task is to coordinate a life-saving national public health program to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and control potentially-fatal intestinal parasitic infections.

‘This program has the potential to prevent malnutrition, anaemia, stunted growth and death for thousands of East Timorese children.

‘It is wonderful to be involved with such a worthwhile public health program,’ Megan said from the capital Dili.

Megan is working for the World Health Organisation, which is assisting the Ministry of Health in Timor-Leste to deliver the program.

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a mosquito-borne disease and one of the leading causes of disability in the world, affecting about 120 million people in 83 countries worldwide.

‘It is estimated that more than a billion people—or 20 per cent of the world’s population—are at risk of acquiring lymphatic filariasis,’ Ms Counahan said.

‘In Timor-Leste, the infection rates of both lymphatic filariasis and intestinal parasites have been very high.

‘A recent survey found almost all children had intestinal parasites and eight to 10 per cent of adults had lymphatic filariasis.

The program in Timor-Leste aims to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and control intestinal parasites.

It was sparked by the preventable and tragic death of 12-year-old Timorese girl in October, 2003.

At the time, United Nations forensic pathologist Dr Muhammad Nurul Islam—who performed the post mortem—said it was the worst worm infestation he had ever seen.

The program—called Lumbriga…mak lae duni! (Worms…no way!)—began in February and built on initiatives undertaken in other countries where lymphatic filariasis and intestinal parasites are endemic.

The mainstay of the program is the mass distribution of albendazole and diethylcarbamazine (DEC) to everyone in Timor-Leste.

‘The tablets are very inexpensive at around 10 cents each,’ Megan said.

‘This is a national campaign involving more than 5,000 East Timorese volunteers across the country who will go house to house distributing tablets to ensure no one misses out.’

The Timor-Leste Ministry of Health, with technical assistance from the World Health Organisation, aims to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and control intestinal parasitic infections (IPI) over the next five years.

Lumbriga…mak lae duni! has been made possible through the donation of albendazole tablets by GlaxoSmithKline and financial assistance from the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation in Japan and the Australian Government via AusAid.

The program will roll out over the remaining districts in Timor-Leste in the next year.