Acholi registers 31 leprosy cases
Members of Ubanga-oribowa Leper Learning Centre undertake an exercise during one of the lessons in Lira District in September 2017. PHOTO/TOBBIAS JOLLY OWINY
What you need to know:
- About leprosy. Leprosy is a chronic progressive bacterial infection that primarily affects the nerves of the extremities, the lining of the nose, and the upper respiratory tract. It (one of the oldest diseases in recorded history, according to the World Health Organisation, dating back to 600 B.C) produces skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. It has an incubation period of six months to five years. Some people, even go up to 20 years to start showing signs and symptoms. If it is not treated, it can cause severe disability.
Acholi Sub-region has registered 31 new cases of leprosy in seven districts, health authorities have confirmed.
The leaders are now investigating how the disease is spreading in the sub-region.
Mr Jacob Ojok, the Gulu District leprosy focal point person, said the most affected people are Persons with Disabilities.
He blamed the re-emergence of the disease on limited knowledge among health workers to detect and diagnose it at early stages.
Of the 31 cases, Gulu has five, Amuru (3), Kitgum (4), Pader (3), Lamwo (4), Nwoya (4), and Omoro (3), among others.
Dr Jimmy Komakech, the regional leprosy and tuberculosis (TB) focal person, in an interview said: “These cases are everywhere in each district in Acholi, most of them are persons who are in the level of grade II disability (wounds, and the changing shape of ears and nose) caused by the disease, meaning we diagnosed them late.”
“Now we have more than 30 and I am sure we are going to get very many in a short while, almost all these cases were recorded this year,” Dr Komakech added.
Whereas the Health ministry’s National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Division has been releasing resources for TB and leprosy control in the region, Dr Komakech said they are little to handle the situation.
Eight years ago, the ministry trained and deployed 20 clinical officers in Acholi at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital. However, the health workers were relocated to other departments on assumption that the disease had been wiped out.
The random cases mean a big number of people are yet to be diagnosed, according to Dr Komakech.
“There is a need to conduct mass diagnosis because there could be more cases who are not detected. We are also sensitising the community to know how to identify symptoms, refer cases and avoid stigmatisation,” he added.
At Gulu Hospital, there is a skin clinic that attends to patients every Friday to identify such cases.
Last month, Dr Stavia Turyahabwe, the assistant commissioner of National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Division at the Health ministry, said the leprosy burden has drastically gone down and many isolation centres had closed.
She said Buluba Hospital in Mayuge District remains the only active health facility where active leprosy cases were isolated and treated.
“The disease was eliminated as a public health threat in 2004 and the prevalence rate has since reduced to a ratio of 1:1 million people, prompting us to close down almost all these isolation facilities across the country,” Dr Turyahabwe said.
She noted that every year, the country records less than 200 active cases of leprosy. “We get support from our partners (a German agency), but if they have developed any disability, they fall under the general disability budget,” Dr Turyahabwe added.
