Health authorities have advised people in the country to stop excluding leprosy patients from gatherings and to avoid discriminating against them in any way as one way of winning the battle against leprosy.
Nkhotakokota District Hospital Clinician Andrew Namakhwa said that they have noticed that people who have leprosy are being excluded in many areas including normal gatherings which is very worrisome to the medical personnel because the patients require comfort and support.
He added that when it comes to marriage, some of the patients due to their disability are finding it difficult to find a life partner because of the permanent damage of their skin, fingers, eyes among others.
“We are encouraging people to show love and support to these people, they are like anyone and once they start receiving treatment they cannot infect anyone. What is needed now is to encourage those people who are showing signs and symptoms of leprosy to go to hospital, get tested and start receiving treatment,” he said.
Namakhwa noted that there is a need to bring awareness to the people living in communities because they have noticed that there is a knowledge gap on the issue including medical personals.
“We are therefore asking for financial support because we are failing to reach out to many people as we are supposed to do due to lack of resources such as motorcycles and fuel,” he said
Nkhotakota has 60 patients who are suffering from leprosy a figure which is showing that the hospital has registered more cases than others.
Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. It can affect the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (nasal mucosa). With early diagnosis and treatment, the disease can be cured.
A person who suffers from leprosy may feel numb on the affected areas of the skin, muscle weakness or paralysis (especially in the hands and feet), enlarged nerves (especially those around the elbow and knee and in the sides of the neck) and eye problems that may lead to blindness.
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