The Assistant Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Health, Tagaloa Dr. Robert Thomsen who is leading the lymphatic filariasis campaign stressed that the remaining people with lymphatic filariasis in the country after Sunday has to be below one per cent of the population.

He said during a media conference on Saturday when he released a statistics report on the campaign. He added that six months of investigations after the last day of the campaign (Sunday 24 September) will be carried out to determine the percentage of the people remaining with lymphatic filariasis in the country.

"It's a one-off thing, then we will break until investigations for six months are completed to determine how much of the lymphatic filariasis  is left in the country," he said.

"And if after that investigation is concluded and we find out that if the percentage of the remaining lymphatic filariasis is high then  we will prepare for another campaign.

"But if investigations determine that below one per cent of the population still have lymphatic filariasis then we will break next year and carry out another investigation after another six months.

"If after the next investigation in 2024 finds that the percentage has increased again, then we will carry out and prepare for another mass campaign and the administration of the drug will depend on the number of people left that have the filariasis."

Meanwhile, the campaign kicked off on the 16th of this month to the 24th with Ministry of Health staff members trying their best on the last day (Sunday) to reach out to as many people as they could.

Asked for a final count of the drug administration on Sunday, Acting Director General of Health, Atoa Dr. Glenn said the staff were scheduled to gather at the Ministry's headquarters on Sunday evening for the final collection of all statistics for the final report.

In Savai'i, 96 per cent of the targeted population has been covered while for Upolu, 72 per cent was also covered.

Low coverage was identified at the Leulumoega Hospital and Apia urban area which was below 70 per cent while the rest of other hospitals including Lufilufi, Lalomanu, Poutasi, Saanapu and Faleolo hospitals attained more than 70 per cent coverage.

Tagaloa also stressed that the lymphatic filariasis drugs normally don't have contraindications except for children who are below 2 years of age and those who are allergic to any of the three types of tablets

If the targeted population is not reached by Sunday, the drugs will still be available at the hospitals for another month while the Ministry's Public Health Division will continue to open their doors for anyone to take the tablets any day between 9 am and 5 pm.