M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Nov. 17: Under National Leprosy Eradication Programme 2021 a two-day training of medical officers began today under the chairmanship of Civil surgeon Anil Kumar.
Sources said Covid-19 had almost eclipsed the attention of leprosy and now fresh impetus is being given to the discovery of the cases of leprosy.
The Civil surgeon said a doctor or for that matter, an individual can see the hypopigmented patch on the body.
He said a common man may find out himself fainting of the skin colour or fading of the skin colour or discolouring of the skin. Numbness is one of the big symptoms along with the thickening of the nerves, said the civil surgeon.
A leprosy patient said he had a bout of skin discolouring and numbness but he took it very lightly as a result he now is a confirmed leprosy patient. He appealed to the people not to ignore hypo pigmented patches on the body and feel no stigma about it.
He also said that doctors should present a fully cured leprosy patient to the public which will boost their confidence that they too will beat leprosy.
A cancer patient comes out in the open and narrates how he has defeated cancer and the world appreciates it but a leprosy patient even on getting cured hides his face from the world when there is no such thing to do at all.
Multi bacillary leprosy patients are more than the pausi bacillary patients in Palamu. Multi bacillary leprosy is far tougher to cure than the pausi bacillary but if treatment is taken regularly and adequately then leprosy is definite to be defeated.
There are 192 multibacillary leprosy patients while only 51 pausi bacillary leprosy patients in this district and they are undergoing treatment. Children too become leprosy struck as 12 of them are on treatment in Palamu.
Case of leprosy per 10,000 population is below one percent in Palamu, claimed the leprosy consultant Mirtunjay Kumar.
There are 14 such leprosy patients who are in grade 2 deformity.