WHO warns that leprosy is spreading rapidly in India

Leprosy in India has become a global burden with about 120,000 new cases each year.

Six years after the official declaration of leprosy was removed in India, officials and doctors once again had to make a warning that the disease was spreading in the lives of the poor where here.

Leprosy tends to spread in India.

In a recent interview, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in India, Nata Menabde, said nearly a third of India's districts need emergency plans to address the problem. spread this disease.

"There are about 209 out of 640 districts with new infections, exceeding the WHO's allowable limits, below 10 new cases per 100,000 people , " she said. "Leprosy in India has become a global burden with about 120,000 new cases each year."

According to an official statement in 2005, leprosy, a skin-damaging disease that attacks the nerves in the hands and feet, has been removed in India according to WHO standards. WHO allows governments to declare that leprosy is no longer a public health risk if the infection rate drops below 1 person per 10,000 people.

Of the new cases of infection in India, 10% of them are related to children, said Menabde."This figure shows that the transmission rate is very high," she says , which is an early warning for the government.

Vivek Pai, director of the nonprofit project Bombay Leprosy Project, said the success in eliminating leprosy in 2005 brought satisfaction to the Indian government.

He cited examples of Maharashtra, India's richest state with national financial centers in Mumbai."They change the plan so quickly, that vigilance results in a higher incidence of illness and a focus on the poor."

"In recent months, the number of new diseases in Maharashtra has increased from 9-10 people per 100,000 people in 2006-2007, now that number is 13 per 100,000 people. This is a very worrying thing , " he said. told AFP.

He revealed that the decline in funding from the state and the private sector would be a barrier to efforts to fight disease.'We do not turn our backs on the sick, but we are forced to delay treatment because of limitations from funding.'

Pai pointed out that leprosy is a consequence of an inferior socio-economy and concerns that patients will suffer from community discrimination if this information spreads.

"Many patients come to us from the huge slums of Mumbai like Dharavi. The unsanitary environment, the situation is too cramped, poor, which are conditions that allow leprosy to thrive," he said. to speak. 'In addition, the stigma of the community is one of the reasons people are reluctant to see a doctor when symptoms appear.'

Yohei Sasakawa, WHO's goodwill ambassador warned that India needs to do more to solve discrimination against leprosy patients.

"The goal achieved in 2005 was a great success for India, but it was just a medium-term goal. We failed in this battle, " he said.