Nilphamari not leprosy-free yet
Nineteen years after declaration of Bangladesh as leprosy free, the district, regarded as the country's worst leprosy affected area for long, sees some people contacting the disease anew.
Meanwhile, the country along with the international community observes World Leprosy Day today.
The government's health department and The Leprosy Mission International, also operating Danish Bangladesh Leprosy Mission (DBLM) Hospital in Nilphamari, are jointly working in the district to combat the crippling disease.
The 100-bed hospital, largest of its kind in the country, accommodates complicated patients from different districts.
As per the standard of World Health Organization (WHO), a country may be declared leprosy free if the number of patients is less than one in every 10,000 people.
Accordingly, Bangladesh was declared leprosy free in 1998.
A joint report of the health department and The Leprosy Mission International for 2016 revealed that the rate of leprosy patients in the district fluctuates between 0.97 to 1.02 against every 10,000 people, which is regarded as 'marginal to slightly higher'.
The number of leprosy patients in the area this period was 407, of them 190 were undergoing treatment with old and infectious conditions while 217 were newly detected, the report said.
As many as 2557 leprosy patients in the district became permanently disabled in 1977-2016 period, the report added.
Surendra Nath Sing, programme leader of Leprosy Mission International, said, "Combating leprosy is a continuous process and a leprosy free country means that the disease is under control. It doesn't mean complete eradication."
"Any negligence might cause recurrence of the past situation when there were 13.6 leprosy patients in every 10,000 people.
"After declaration of the country as leprosy free, there seemed a bit slack among the authorities to fight the disease and donors decreased financial support for it,” he said.
Dr Biliom Sangma, resident medical officer of DBLM, said new patients' tendency to hide the disease out of superstition and social stigma coupled with lack of awareness campaign are possibly responsible for a slight rise of leprosy patients in the district.
The contagious disease is caused by mycobacterium leprae bacteria and if the patients do not take multi drug therapy treatment, they gradually become disabled, he added.
Contacted, Nilphamari Civil Surgeon Dr Abdur Rashid said, "The allegation of slackening attitude towards combating leprosy is not true. Treatment is now available in all government hospitals."
“The number of leprosy patients sees rise, as detection rate is higher due to vigilance of our health workers,” he added.
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