Lymphatic filariasis.

The third in an 8-part series investigating diseases from around the globe. Each programme features a single disease and looks at attempts to develop treatments that are effective and affordable to the world's poor who make up the majority of the victims. This part features lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), a disease predominantly in Africa, which causes great pain and social stigma. There is no cure but there are treatments which can alleviate the worst of the symptoms. Professor David Molyneux from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is an expert on parasitic diseases and describes the physiological processes behind the development of the condition. The programme follows the work of the World Health Organisation and Glaxo-Smith Kline to develop a treatment for the disease.