The economic burden of lymphatic filariasis in India

Lymphatic filariasis affects 119 million people living in 73 countries, wit h India accounting for 40% of the global prevalence of infection. Despite i ts debilitating effects, lymphatic filariasis is given very low control pri ority. One of the reasons for this is paucity of information on the economi c burden of the disease. Recent studies in rural areas of south India have shown that the treatment costs and loss of work time clue to the disease ar e considerable. Based on the results of these studies, Kapa Ramaiah et al. here estimate the annual economic loss because of lymphatic filariasis for India and discuss the implications of their findings.