With the advent of preventative medicine, recent years have seen a sharp decline in filariasis (mumu) in American Samoa. However, the disease, spread by mosquitoes, can still easily infect those who have not taken their pills to prevent it. With their medicine distribution drive, the ASCC Nursing faculty and students joined a coordinated effort by the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control to eliminate filariasis worldwide. Over the course of the two-day drive, the Nursing Department distributed filariasis medicine to 1,518 people on the ASCC campus. The week before, they also spent a day distributing the medicine at the Laufou shopping center, where another 966 people took advantage of this free service, bringing the grand total of individuals who received their filariasis pills from the Nursing Department this year to 2,484.

“We see this community project as a way of reinforcing the Samoan cultural value of tautua,” said Nursing instructor Patricia Brooks. “Our Nursing students get to be a part of an important international effort to eliminate a disease that has caused many medical problems for their culture.” Brooks also wishes to remind the public that anyone with an affliction from filariasis can come to the Nursing Department to be shown exercises and daily foot care, provided they call and make an appointment in advance.

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