Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a communicable disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae. It mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves and is said to be one of the oldest diseases in human history.
Leprosy is treated with Multidrug Therapy (MDT) and is completely curable when detected and treated early. But if treatment is delayed, it can cause impairments to the skin, nerves, face, hands and feet, and lead to permanent disability. It can also result in social exclusion, reinforced by deep-rooted fears and misconceptions about the disease.
As researches indicate, each year, around 200,000 new cases are reported worldwide and there are still endemic areas and scattered hotspots of leprosy in many countries. Some 3-4 million people are thought to be living with visible impairments or deformities due to leprosy.
Ethiopia is one of the 22 Leprosy high burden countries (HBCs). In 2018/19, 3426 all leprosy cases were notified to the national program, of which 96.2 percent were newly diagnosed. Some 15 percent were children younger than 15 years of age, 14 percent had Grade 2 disability at the time of diagnosis.
Reasons such as low community awareness about leprosy, limited leprosy related community IEC/BCC activities, insufficient health education material for the community and for leprosy patients, fear of stigma and discrimination towards leprosy among others are challenging the treatment of the sickness.
Likewise, lack of active implementation of leprosy contact tracing due to sub-optimal engagement of HEWs in leprosy related activities and leprosy Prophylactic treatments are not being implemented for eligible contacts at the desired level are also encumbering the efforts made to fight the disease.
In the press statement sent to The Ethiopian Herald, The Ethiopian National Association of Persons Affected by Leprosy Executive Directer Tesfaye Tadesse said that Aggressive Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization (ACSM) is needed to ensure that patients come at an earlier stage and complete treatment without accompanying disability. It is time to stop stigma and discrimination of the people affected by leprosy via developing the socio services benefits.
Leprosy is a disease which can affect people irrespective of their color, sex, religion. Thus, the society should understand the case and assist affected people to go to health institutions instead of discriminating them.
Leprosy is a major cause of disability for people affected by it. If left untreated, it will continue to be a significant problem for decades to come and even can challenge the elimination target (a prevalence rate of patients on treatment below 1 per 10,000 population) that has been reached at country level a couple of years ago.
As to him, the expansion rate of the bacteria has been aggravated since four years ago, said Tesfaye adding that what makes it worse is that of the total population who are registered as leprosy patients every year, 12.5 percent are children.
It is wise to note that new leprosy cases will continue to occur, and it is prudent to detect the case at an early stage of the disease and enrolled in regular and complete treatment.
Among the people coming to health facilities to detect the disease, significant proportion of them show disability at diagnosis and many will be at risk of developing (further) disability after diagnosis.
This reality calls for Aggressive Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization (ACSM) to ensure that patients come at an earlier stage and complete treatment without accompanying disability.
WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa, said that in April, the fight against leprosy entered a new phase with the launch by the WHO of “Towards Zero Leprosy: Global Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) Strategy for 2021-2030”. The targets include zero leprosy patients in 120 countries and a 70 percent decrease in new cases targeted globally by 2030.
He said that the new strategy will accelerate momentum towards a leprosy-free world. But, he cautioned: “These ambitious targets, if they are to be achieved, national governments commitment is central. “I realize these are challenging times, but we must not allow leprosy to be overlooked amid COVID-19.”
“Equally, if we truly aspire to achieve “a leprosy-free” world, and lessen the social and economic burden of the disease, tackling discrimination is as important as curing.
For that reason, he hailed the focus on combating stigma and ensuring respect for human rights in the new global leprosy strategy.
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
The Ethiopian herald June 19/2021
