Search and Surgery: Tanzanian doctors race to find and provide surgeries for men with debilitating swelling from lymphatic filiariasis
Tanzania is close to eliminating lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem, which means new cases of the disease will be rare. But, even when the country reaches this historic milestone, there will still be thousands of men who are living with hydroceles, which is swelling of the scrotum to as big as a bowling ball and weighing up to 40 pounds that is caused by lymphatic filariasis. The solution is simple, a short and easy surgery. However, first doctors must find all of the cases and then diligently make their way through more than 20,000 surgeries.