Leprosy threatens Kasese
Apr 18, 2005
WHILE all attention is being focused on AIDS, leprosy is still maiming thousands of people.
By John Thawite
WHILE all attention is being focused on AIDS, leprosy is still maiming thousands of people.
There are between 4,000 and 5,000 people affected by leprosy in Uganda, according to Dr Francis Adatu, coordinator of the national leprosy and tuberculosis Programme. Speaking at the World Leprosy Day at Kagando Hospital, Kasese district recently, Adatu said the disease is still prevalent.
“Every year, we diagnose up to 700 cases of leprosy. Of this, 15% are children aged below 15 year,†he said. The day’s theme was: For many of us, leprosy is a reality, a disease of the present; not the past.
Adatu urged health workers to go to the community to find people affected by leprosy (PAL) instead of waiting to treat them at health units. “Under the health Sector Strategic Plan, the Government is targeting leprosy for elimination,†he said.
Kasese district director of health services, Dr Peter Mukobi, said at least four out of 10,000 people in the district are diagnosed with leprosy annually. He added that 114 cases (65 male and 49 female) had been reported since 2001.
Bishop Jackson Nzerebende of South Rwenzori Diocese, who is also the chairperson of Kagando Rural Development Centre, appealed for funds for buying livestock and handicraft materials for PALs. According to Dr Justus Asiimwe, the south-western Uganda zonal TB/leprosy supervisor, leprosy is a an air-borne disease caused by a bacterium. Mukobi, says the disease affects mainly the skin and nerves. It progresses slowly with an average incubation period of three years.
The main symptom of the disease is a skin patch or patches with a definite loss of sensation. These patches can be pale, reddish or copper-coloured. It can be flat or raised. It does not itch, hurt and lack sensation to heat, touch or pain.
The skin patches can appear on any part of the body. Other signs include reddish nodules or smooth, shiny diffuse thickening of the skin without loss of sensation. Leprosy can be cured using multi-drug treatment (MDT), which kills the bacteria. The drugs include rifampicin, dapsone and clofazimine, which should be taken only on prescription by a trained health worker. The drugs are free and available in government health units.
The World Health Organisation says MDT is safe. A patient, whose feet have dry cracks and fissures is advised to soak feet in water for 20 minutes daily and regularly apply cooking oil or vaseline on them. Blisters on the sole or between toes should be dressed with a clean cloth. Feet with ulcers without any discharge should be cleaned with soap and water, covered with clean dressing and the patient advised to rest.
Ulcerated feet should be cleaned to remove discharge, antiseptic dressing applied and the patient advised to rest. A patient with red painful eyes, blurry vision and discharge should be given aspirin or panadol. If available, 1% atropine drops and steroid ointment should be applied. Eyes should be covered with a pad and the patient should go to hospital.
Since 1962, Germany, through the German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA), has been providing financial, technical and material support.
Uganda has established and sustained her major leprosy rehabilitation centres at Kagando, Kuruva, Kumi and Buluba in Kasese, Arua, Soroti and Mayuge. These centres offer leprosy management training to health workers and provide life skills, appliances and artificial limps to PALs.
One of the challenges facing the fight against leprosy, is the belief that the disease is a punishment from God.
PALs have petitioned President Yoweri Museveni to intervene in their plight.
WHILE all attention is being focused on AIDS, leprosy is still maiming thousands of people.
There are between 4,000 and 5,000 people affected by leprosy in Uganda, according to Dr Francis Adatu, coordinator of the national leprosy and tuberculosis Programme. Speaking at the World Leprosy Day at Kagando Hospital, Kasese district recently, Adatu said the disease is still prevalent.
“Every year, we diagnose up to 700 cases of leprosy. Of this, 15% are children aged below 15 year,†he said. The day’s theme was: For many of us, leprosy is a reality, a disease of the present; not the past.
Adatu urged health workers to go to the community to find people affected by leprosy (PAL) instead of waiting to treat them at health units. “Under the health Sector Strategic Plan, the Government is targeting leprosy for elimination,†he said.
Kasese district director of health services, Dr Peter Mukobi, said at least four out of 10,000 people in the district are diagnosed with leprosy annually. He added that 114 cases (65 male and 49 female) had been reported since 2001.
Bishop Jackson Nzerebende of South Rwenzori Diocese, who is also the chairperson of Kagando Rural Development Centre, appealed for funds for buying livestock and handicraft materials for PALs. According to Dr Justus Asiimwe, the south-western Uganda zonal TB/leprosy supervisor, leprosy is a an air-borne disease caused by a bacterium. Mukobi, says the disease affects mainly the skin and nerves. It progresses slowly with an average incubation period of three years.
The main symptom of the disease is a skin patch or patches with a definite loss of sensation. These patches can be pale, reddish or copper-coloured. It can be flat or raised. It does not itch, hurt and lack sensation to heat, touch or pain.
The skin patches can appear on any part of the body. Other signs include reddish nodules or smooth, shiny diffuse thickening of the skin without loss of sensation. Leprosy can be cured using multi-drug treatment (MDT), which kills the bacteria. The drugs include rifampicin, dapsone and clofazimine, which should be taken only on prescription by a trained health worker. The drugs are free and available in government health units.
The World Health Organisation says MDT is safe. A patient, whose feet have dry cracks and fissures is advised to soak feet in water for 20 minutes daily and regularly apply cooking oil or vaseline on them. Blisters on the sole or between toes should be dressed with a clean cloth. Feet with ulcers without any discharge should be cleaned with soap and water, covered with clean dressing and the patient advised to rest.
Ulcerated feet should be cleaned to remove discharge, antiseptic dressing applied and the patient advised to rest. A patient with red painful eyes, blurry vision and discharge should be given aspirin or panadol. If available, 1% atropine drops and steroid ointment should be applied. Eyes should be covered with a pad and the patient should go to hospital.
Since 1962, Germany, through the German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA), has been providing financial, technical and material support.
Uganda has established and sustained her major leprosy rehabilitation centres at Kagando, Kuruva, Kumi and Buluba in Kasese, Arua, Soroti and Mayuge. These centres offer leprosy management training to health workers and provide life skills, appliances and artificial limps to PALs.
One of the challenges facing the fight against leprosy, is the belief that the disease is a punishment from God.
PALs have petitioned President Yoweri Museveni to intervene in their plight.