New Delhi, 25 January 2014: Sunday, 26 January is World Leprosy Day. Despite progress
in recent years in monitoring and treating the disease, new outbreaks still occur
and there is still no vaccine. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), South
Asia and Southeast Asia account for 71 per cent of new cases worldwide. Of the 16
"worst" countries, eight are in Asia: India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar,
Sri Lanka, Philippines, and China. According to WHO, India still ranks first in
new cases of leprosy. The latest available data indicate that India accounted for
134,752 new cases in 2012 out of a total worldwide of 232,857. According to the Italian
Association of the Friends of Raoul Follereau (AIFO), India had more than 12 million
people with leprosy between 1991 and 2007.
Since the discovery of the bacillus
that causes the disease, a lot of progress has been made in the medical field, particularly
after polychemiotherapy came into use in 1982. The combination of two or three drugs
(Rifampicin, Clofazimine and Dapsone) has been shown to stop the progression of the
disease. However, "no vaccine has been discovered yet," said Sister Bertilla Capra,
a missionary of Charity who has been in India 44 years serving lepers. "Even the Old
Testament mentions leprosy."
Speaking to AsiaNews, she noted, "Existing treatments
are crucial, but the damage already done is not reversible. For this reason, prevention
and monitoring are among the most important things to do."
Non-reversible damage
includes ulcers, which typically affect hands and feet and lead to deformity and paralysis.
The bacterium that causes leprosy, in fact, only attacks the peripheral nerves.
According
to the latest WHO report published in 2013 (with data from 2012), the regional distribution
of new cases has remained largely unchanged compared to previous years. The number
of new cases increased in 2011 after a certain decline between 2005 and 2010. In
2012, an extra 6,231 cases were reported.
According to the WHO, this trend
is due to two factors: new health programmes in areas not previously covered brought
forth data unavailable before and a drop in the number cases led many governments
to cut national programmes and related health services, undermining monitoring.
India
is one 16 countries ranked "worst" in 2012 with more than 1,000 new cases. They are
Brazil (33,303), Indonesia (18,994), Nigeria (3,805), Ethiopia (3,776), Bangladesh
(3,688), Congo (3,607), Nepal (3,492), Myanmar (3,013), Tanzania (2,528), Sri Lanka
(2,191), Philippines (2,150), South Sudan (1,801), Madagascar (1,474), China (1,206),
and Ivory Coast (1,030).
It is interesting to note that 95 per cent of all
new leprosy cases are concentrated in these 16 countries (eight in Asia, seven in
Africa and one in Latin America). The rest of the world accounts for the other 5 per
cent.Source: AsiaNews