Living with Filariasis: Unseen Struggles of a Neglected Disease

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a long-lasting, debilitating parasitic infection that has remained an immense burden to the endemic areas globally in the realms of physical, psychological, and socioeconomic suffering. LF presents itself in the form of lymphedema, hydrocele, and disfigurement, and limits motor activity, working capabilities, and interaction processes between people, significantly reducing self-esteem and life quality. LF brings significant socio-psychological distress besides the physical one. A decline in self-esteem often results in anxiety and depression; recognizable deformities are stigmatized and avoided. This social isolation and poverty become internalized, also with the misconceptions of contagion and impurity, and further bring about the perpetuation of vulnerability. Gender acts as a multifactor determinant force of the LF experience. It contains multiple layers of discrimination against women, concerning marriage refusal, and the workplace, where men are denied opportunities to earn their living and can become social outcasts. Such inequities, which are gender-based, are expected to be addressed when it comes to managing diseases. Constant obstacles put access to timely treatment and care in the spotlight, including the lack of awareness, financial constraints, and health facilities. The most effective interventions are the extension of the community participation levels and maximization of mass drug administration (MDA), which can considerably decrease the disease and burden of the disease and its burden. The world campaigns towards the abolition should not henceforth be geared towards pharmacological but rather take a rights-based approach. The psychological support, social rehabilitation, and gender-based interventions introduced into the social health systems can increase the inclusion and cost-efficiency of the individuals who have already experienced the widened perceived effects of LF and their dignity.