“Commissioner Seeks New Strategy Against Leprosy”

The Rivers State govern
ment has called for a new strategy in the fight against leprosy.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tamuno Iyoriari Parker, in a broadcast to mark this year’s World leprosy Day (WLD) said, “we must intensify our actions in the fight against leprosy with a firm objective of early case defection and treatment”.
Parker noted that one of the challenges against the success of the fight against leprosy was late case reporting for treatment by persons affected by Leprosy which he said poses a lot of social challenges.
He said that early detection and placement on treatment effectively breaks transmission and prevents permanent deformity associated with leprosy.
He said this year’s theme in Nigeria leprosy Elimination. The challenges beyond MDT aims at raising awareness of these disease and the treatment options available.
He explained leprosy is a bacterial disease which affects the extremities of the body and fall, adding that in Rivers State, the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme recorded 19 new cases in 2013 and 12 new cases in 2014, seven of the 12 cases in 2014 presented with physical disability.
He further explained that the disability was an indication of, “late seeking of health care due to low awareness about the disease among the populace even including health workers”, saying that presently 14 patients are enrolled for treatment, using an effective drug combination called Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT).
The Commissioner stated that the earliest sign of Leprosy is a light skin patch that usually has loss of feeling, caused by acgerm called my cobacterium laprae and transmitted from infected persons to his/her contracts.
He advised that a persons’ affected by leprosy must be treated humanely and given the necessary support to survive in the society, let us end the stigma and discrimination against them”.
He called for cooperation by stakeholders in the fight against leprosy noting that, “our lines are better by ridding our society of Leprosy”.
Parker used the opportunity to announce that leprosy treatment in the state is free and urged that all suspected symptoms be reported to any government owned primary Health centres where trained personnel are on ground to adequate handle it.

Tonye Nria-Dappa