Ironically, the government had claimed victory over leprosy in 2009. [break]
It said that the disease’s prevalence rate dropped to 0.89 per 10000 people, meeting the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for declaring the disease as eliminated.
According to Mahendra Shrestha, director of the Far Western Regional Health Directorate, the disease could not be eliminated as patients with leprosy hesitated to open up fearing social exclusion. “Many people still tend to conceal their leprosy problem fearing that they will be ostracized by the society. And their fear is not baseless as such people have not only been thrown out of their homes but also forced to live in caves,” he said.
A patient of leprosy Fularam Chaudhari, 60, said that he also faced discrimination after he contracted the disease. “People look down upon us. I have been taking medicines for more than 3 years, but my condition hasn’t improved,” he shared.
Similarly, 50-year-old Gothe Dhami, a resident of Chainpur, Bajhang said that his family and the society neglect him as he has leprosy.
Nepal was one of the last countries in the world to declare to have eradicated leprosy.
As per WHO standards, a country can declare itself leprosy-free only if the prevalence of the disease is less than one person per 10000 people.
The situation in Kailali is that there are 2 leprosy patients for every 10,000 people. According to health reports, leprosy is still prevalent in 14 districts of Nepal.
In the far western region the total registered number of leprosy patient is 252. “The number also includes children under 15, indicating that the disease is still being transmitted to the younger generation,” said director Shrestha.
The latest government data shows that there are 2,408 leprosy patients in the country.
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