Covid-19 sets back progress on neglected diseases in India

For 68 year old Shivji Singh, a resident of Govind Chak village in Saran district, Bihar, the past two years have meant severe financial losses and physical degradation. The head of a family of 13, Singh has lymphatic filariasis and has barely been able to work because of pain in his left leg.Also known as elephantiasis, lymphatic filariasis is caused by parasitic worms spread by mosquitoes, and is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Singh has lived with the condition for more than 11 years. He says access to treatment was severely curtailed during the pandemic.“Every time I visited the medical store in the village, they either never had the medicines I needed or demanded four times their price,” Singh tells TheBMJ. If left untreated, lymphatic filariasis can cause disfigurement and the abnormal enlargement of limbs or scrotum. Sections of the Indian population are at high risk, and…
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