January 30, 2002

Kathmandu: Health Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari has said that the government is committed to eliminate leprosy from the country by the end of 2003.

“Nepalese government has recognised leprosy elimination as a priority programme and intensified its drive to eradicate the endemic in targeted time,” Minister Bhandari told the 2nd Meeting of Global Alliance for Elimination of Leprosy (GAEL) that is started in Brasilia, Brazil from Tuesday.

Minister Bhandari is leading a four-member high level Nepalese delegation to a three-day international meet there.

“Leprosy, one of the oldest diseases known to mankind, is causing many myths and mysteries to mankind, bringing challenges to medical science and leading to deformation, disability, dependence and depression to persons affected by the disease, and is still a major public health problem for many of us,” Bhandari said.

Shedding light on the efforts of the Nepalese government against the endemic, he informed the meet that Nepal conducted two leprosy elimination campaigns –one in 1999 and the other in 2000. The first campaign detected about 1,200 new cases from 27 hyper endemic districts and the second one about 5,000 new cases from 17 hyper endemic districts.

“This shows that there are still hidden cases in the society because the leprosy patients are either not adequately aware of the disease and its treatment facilities or do not want to come for treatment due to social stigma,” noted the Health Minister.

He said that Nepal, with the support of the WHO, Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation, The Netherlands Leprosy Relief, Leprosy Mission International and other partners and INGOs, has been conducting various activities including community awareness and participation, case detection, capacity building of health workers, sensitisation and orientation of volunteers, community and social leaders in this regard.

Bhandari further said that the meeting was very encouraging to update knowledge, pledge commitment and draw support in the campaign against the disease, according to press release.