The Provincial Health Services Directorate has stated that it is working to identify new leprosy patients at the local level.
What you should know
The government has eradicated leprosy from Nepal. However, in Karnali Province, the number of leprosy patients is increasing every year. The rate of new patients being found and diagnosed in the province is increasing. The number of patients completing treatment in a five-year period is also increasing.
The Provincial Health Service Directorate has stated that new leprosy patients have been added since the fiscal year 2077/2078. In the fiscal year 2077/2078, 67 patients were found, while in the fiscal year 2078/2079, 68 were found. In the fiscal year 2079/2080, it increased to 73. Similarly, in the fiscal year 2080/2081, 80 patients were found, while in the fiscal year 2082/2083, 83 new patients were added, informed Padam KC, the focal person for tuberculosis.
The rate of new patients being detected during this period has also been increasing. It was 3.67 in the fiscal year 2077/2078, but then it reached 4. It reached 4.2, 4.7 and 4.87 in the fiscal year 2082/2083, KC said.
According to him, the number of patients under treatment has also increased year by year. Initially, 77 patients were being treated, then 84. Then, it increased to 92, and the next year, it reached 102. In the fiscal year 2082/083, 111 leprosy patients are under treatment.
As the number of patients increased, the number of people completing treatment also increased. Initially, 64 people completed treatment. Then, 68, 69, and 76 completed treatment. Focal person KC said that 75 people completed treatment in the fiscal year 2082/083.
The directorate has stated that it is going to the local level to identify new leprosy patients. In addition, the directorate is also providing transportation expenses of 1,000 and an additional 1,000 to those affected by the disease who are admitted after regular treatment. KC says that the program has also been continued.
Leprosy patients are treated free of charge at the Signing Hospital INF Surkhet. Hospital chief Lalit Bahadur Saru said that the hospital is providing residential treatment services in addition to OPD services.
