title: Assessing progress in reducing the at-risk population after 13 years of the global programme to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 1997, the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution 50.29, committing to the elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem, subsequently targeted for 2020. The initial estimates were that 1.2 billion people were at-risk for LF infection globally. Now, 13 years after the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) began implementing mass drug administration (MDA) against LF in 2000-during which over 4.4 billion treatments have been distributed in 56 endemic countries-it is most appropriate to estimate the impact that the MDA has had on reducing the population at risk of LF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To assess GPELF progress in reducing the population at-risk for LF, we developed a model based on defining reductions in risk of infection among cohorts of treated populations following each round of MDA. The model estimates that the number of people currently at risk of infection decreased by 46% to 789 million through 2012.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Important progress has been made in the global efforts to eliminate LF, but significant scale-up is required over the next 8 years to reach the 2020 elimination goal.
authors.affiliation: Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center, Task Force for Global Health, Decatur, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Pamela J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.affiliation: Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center, Task Force for Global Health, Decatur, Georgia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brian K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mikhailov
authors.affiliation: Neglected Tropical Diseases Support Center, Task Force for Global Health, Decatur, Georgia, United States of America; ENVISION Project, RTI International, Washington D.C., United States of America.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ottesen
authors.affiliation: Global Health Programs, GlaxoSmithKline, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bradley
mesh_terms: D004605:Elephantiasis, Filarial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005369:Filaricides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D005369:Filaricides