Will Ghana Be Able To Achieve Global Leprosy Target?

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae which mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves.

Dr. Ekow Otabil, National Programme Manager of the LEP, disclosed this at a seminar organised by the Ghana Health Service in Accra.

He explained eradication as the complete cessation of transmission as a result of the disappearance of the disease causing organism and elimination, as the reduction of leprosy patients in a community to a level where the disease ceases to be of public health importance. 

However he stated that the country was yet to eradicate the disease.

Giving the national leprosy statistics, Dr. Otabil said the country recorded a total of 734 cases as at the end of last October. He said out of the number, 610 new cases were detected during the year and explained that a new cases of leprosy is one that has never been previously treated with anti-leprosy drugs.

 Dr. Otabil said that the LEP was currently promoting public awareness about the disease in the communities besides intensifying case search in areas with high prevalence, providing multi-drug therapy (MDT) services to all health facilities and ensuring that all existing and new cases were given appropriate MDT.

Leprosy Ambassador Targets Discrimination Against Lepers

Leprosy is a disease caused by a rod-shaped bacillus called Mycobacterium Leprae or M-Leprae which affects the skin and nerves. It is transmitted through air via droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with untreated infected individual.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated a campaign to end discrimination and other human rights violations faced by people affected by leprosy around the world.   UN Sub-committee on the Protection and Promotion of Human Right and has obtained unanimous approval for a resolution to urge governments to end basic human rights violation.

Mixing, touching and hugging patients at the leprosarium told the world that leprosy is not an infectious disease nor is it hereditary, though through the effort of governments', leprosy had decline in countries like Ghana, about six million cured leprosy patients in the world faced discrimination and stigmatization.  

It is very worrying and caution against the use of derogatory terms such as lepers or its equivalent in other languages has been advised to be refrained from.

 Some patients added that, they should not be referred to by the disease but by their names rather, and also cured patients and their families should be acknowledged as people who are part of society. 

In an exclusive interview with Dr. Amankwah Otabil, Programmes  Manger, Leprosy Control, Ghana Health Service, he said there were no vaccines for the disease, rather early detection prevented deformities and urged the public to report to the clinic with any skin rashes, adding that treatment for the disease was free. 

Mr. Kofi Nyarko, a cured patient, teacher and an advocate for the elimination of discrimination against leprosy appealed to his colleagues to "keep hope alive" for the immense contribution to eliminating leprosy in the world.