Plateau records 103 cases of leprosy in 2018 says Commissioner
The Plateau Government says it recorded 103 cases of leprosy in the state in 2018.
Dr Lar Ndam, the state’s Commissioner for health said this on Thursday in Jos, at a ceremony to mark the world’s leprosy day.
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Ndam, represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Martins Azzutu, said among the 103 cases recorded, one of the patients was a child.
He said that the ministry had not been able to carry out active leprosy detection and community involvement lately due to lack of funding, saying that the situation was unhealthy for the state as there was high risk of resurgence of the disease.
Ndam assured that government will not relent in its effort to ensure that the people were properly sensitised on the disease and urged them to show love to those affected by the disease and shun acts of discrimination and stigmatisation against them.
He further called on the people to refer persons suspected to have leprosy to nearest health centre for screening, pointing out that early symptoms of leprosy were skin patches that were lighter in colour than normal skin colour.
According to him other symptoms are loss of sensation in hands and feet, weakness of hands and feet and the numbness of the hands and feet.
He commended the Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief initiative Nigeria for its support to the state.
