Speaking at a seminar organized by the Leprosy Control Division in the capital city today, Minister Mallik said although Nepal was declared a leprosy-free country in 2010, leprosy patients were still found in different parts of the country. Therefore, the government was planning to bring additional effective programmes to this regard. [break]
According to him, the government was conducting a ´door to door´ programme to identify and eradicate leprosy. However, the data was gathered randomly, he added.
Secretary at the Health Ministry, Dr Prabin Mishra, said that the public awareness on leprosy was still low in Nepali community. Additional programmes on raising public awareness were essential, he added.
Legal officer at the Ministry Komal Acharya said the perspective to lepers was yet to change. Discrimination was still meted out on the lepers.
Division Director Dr Chudamani Bhandari said the seminar would discuss how coordination would be established between central agency and regional body for the leprosy control.
The three-day seminar is attended by health workers from different districts.
The Ministry record shows that among 10,000 people, the leprosy case was found in 0.85 percent in the fiscal year 2012/013. Geographically, 86 percent leprosy patients are from the Tarai region.
The data further shows that there are some 5,000 lepers in Nepal.
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