Lymphatic filariasis is a debilitating disease caused by nematode worms of the genera Wucheriaand Brugia. Larval worms circulate in the bloodstream of infected persons, and adult worms live in the lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic filariasis is not life threatening, but it does cause discomfort, swelling of the limbs and genitals, damage to the kidneys and lymphatic system, impairment of the body's ability to fight infection, and general malaise. In addition, it causes immeasurable emotional and economic costs in terms of the disruption of family and community life. Approximately 120 million people in the world have the disease, and infection rates are increasing with the continued expansion of urbanization that is underway in the tropics.

          More than 1 billion people are threatened by lymphatic filariasis (LF), a devastating parasitic infection spread by mosquitoes. LF - caused by thread-like parasitic worms that damage the human lymphatic system - is usually contracted in childhood, often before age five. One of the world's most disabling and disfiguring diseases, LF afflicts the poorest of the poor. The disease currently infects over 120 million people, leaving more than 40 million incapacitated or disfigured with swelling of the limbs and breasts (lymphoedema) and genitals (hydrocele), or swollen limbs with dramatically thickened, hard, rough and fissured skin (elephantiasis). LF prevents afflicted individuals from experiencing a normal working and social life, furthering the cycle of poverty.

         Worms lodge in the lymphatic system, the network of nodes and vessels that maintains the delicate fluid balance between the tissues and blood, and which is an essential component for the body's immune defence system. The worms live for 4-6 years, producing millions of immature microfilariae (tiny larvae) that circulate in the blood.

           83 of the world’s poorest countries including Philippines is affected by lymphatic Filariasis or elephantiasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Filiariasis in our country is endemic, 40 provinces in which 76% of the cases can be formed in 4th to 6th class municipalities, leaving 23 millions civilians at risk if left without cure.

          The good side of it is that, the filiarisis has been declared as one of the potentially eradicable disease by WHO. In the 1997th of may, the world health organization urged every members of the state affected to strengthen activities towards the elimination of the lymphatic filariasis  as a public health problem.
Locall y, the DOH issued a mandate that will shift the national Filariasis Control Program to end. Year 2004, PGMA signed an executive order numbered 369 which will establish the National Program for Eliminating Filiariasis and declare November as a Mass Treatment for Filiariasis Month. The Department of health fourmula one for health intervention which aims to improve the accessibility and availability of health care for all using the “disease-free zones initiative”. The initiative focused on intensive campaigns to eliminate different diseases including the lymphatic filiariasis.