Making Bangladesh leprosy-free

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases of human history. It is completely curable with timely and proper treatment. However, due to lack of awareness, many leprosy victims become disabled for the rest of their lives. Due to stigma, superstition and severe consequences of the disease, leprosy is still considered one of the major health problems in countries like Bangladesh. By the standard of World Health Organization (WHO), a country may be declared leprosy-free if the number of patients is fewer than one in every 10,000 people.

Accordingly, Bangladesh was declared free of leprosy in 1998. However, leprosy is far from over. According to the Leprosy Mission International-Bangladesh (LMI-B), around 4,000 new leprosy cases are now being identified in the country every year, which is quite alarming.

Leprosy is an airborne communicable disease. The first outward sign of leprosy is a patch on the skin, usually associated with loss of feelings caused by impairment of the functions of nerves. However, it is curable with the intervention of modern medicine. If not treated, leprosy can cause disability. Although the treatment of leprosy is free in Bangladesh, it still remains a public health problem. For years, leprosy patients have been considered cursed and untouchable. If we cannot make people aware of the fact that it is now a curable disease, the social perception cannot be changed.

Currently there are only 40 beds available for leprosy patients in government hospitals and 324 in private facilities, which is inadequate. We also have a lack of trained manpower to locate patients in remote areas. We must come forward to eradicate the deep-rooted stigma among the general public and integrate the leprosy survivors into society.

Ashikujaman Syed,

Research Assistant,

Bioinformatics Research Lab,

Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),

syedashikujaman@yahoo.com