Mass Drug Administration

Mass drug administration (MDA) is a phrase that refers to the administration of various drugs to entire populations whether or not disease is prominently present. This is a technique that has been used to intervene in the spread of malaria for more than 70 years. With respect to MDA, medicines are administered in one of two ways: directly or indirectly. With direct MDA, a therapeutic dose of a drug—an antimalarial drug, for example—will generally be given to an entire population. With indirect MDA, medicines are typically incorporated into meals and beverages. Although MDA is not always successful at stopping the transmission of a disease like malaria, it can control it to a more manageable level.