Sri Lanka reports over 1,500 leprosy cases including children

10 January 2024 11:17 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 7 Bookmark

A A A

Colombo, Jan 10 (Daily Mirror) - Observing a significant increase in leprosy cases, a total of 1,550 leprosy cases were logged in 2023 with 173 cases being reported among school children.

According to the Anti-Leprosy Campaign, the majority of cases have been recorded from the Colombo District with 315 cases while 168 and 151 cases have been reported from the Gampaha and Kalutara districts respectively.

In light of the uptick in cases among school children, a nationwide programme was initiated at the school level to detect leprosy infections.

The Anti-Leprosy Campaign further states that there are two types of leprosy spreading in the country — communicable and non-communicable. Unfortunately, of the cases detected, 60% are classified as communicable, indicating a potential higher risk of transmission.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 95% of humans are immune to the bacteria causing leprosy.

As the number of leprosy cases continues to rise, health officials are working to assess and manage the situation, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to address both communicable and non-communicable forms of the disease.

Comments - 7

Smh Wednesday, 10 January 2024 12:43 PM

This is unbelievable! Why did it go this far? There is medication for this! It is an ancient disease which was eradicated successfully in Sri Lanka. Government must investigate. 1500 people didn't go to a doctor at some point? How was this missed? In the Bible the Lord Jesus healed and restored the lepers. My God, are we going back in time?

0 0

Fred Wednesday, 10 January 2024 01:16 PM

We have gone back in time for many things not just leprosy.At one stage we had a fine university, one of the best in Asia, a society proficient in English, a fine medical and justice system etc etc best to decentralize as they are trying to now, that way some areas(provinces) should work better than others its the politics, the less you have of it the better as we all know

0 0

Dilshan Perera Wednesday, 10 January 2024 01:37 PM

What an idiot Smh sounds with his incorrect stupid comments! 1,500 cases per year is actually a reduction in patients over the last 10 years as I remember there were over 2,000 every year in recent past.. what an idiot this daily mirror pseudo journalist Sheila Fernandopulle is, not even researching data for an article! Or is he a stooge of that shameless thief Prasad Ranaweera the current director of Leprosy?? Sounds very much like this swindler Ranaweera is singing for his supper, by portraying a fake emergency of cases to increase funding and eventually fill his personal pockets.. These Health ministry directors are all above the law and keep urinating on the courts and judges..

0 0

Niro B Wednesday, 10 January 2024 02:26 PM

You are correct Dilshan Perera, the author of this article needs to give comparative figures, if not it makes very little sense and leads to incorrect conclusions just like you have pointed out about the contents of one commentor. Leprosy numbers in Sri Lanka was less in the previous 3 years mostly due to covid (less social gatherings, interaction etc especially in 2020 and 2021, last year the figure was around 1400) however from 2010 to 2019 the yearly leprosy numbers were between 2000 plus and 1600 (with 2019 reporting a 1600 plus cases), thus this is not something that has suddenly arisen but the lack of comparative figures leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretations.

0 0

Ram Wednesday, 10 January 2024 04:17 PM

This news is shocking. What was the Health Minister doing when this first surfaced? I hear there are medications for this. What I see is it is mishandled by the Minister and the Government bureaucrats

0 0

Basilipala Balusinha Wednesday, 10 January 2024 04:41 PM

Myna may be having it too!

0 0

Ayoo men Thursday, 11 January 2024 03:58 AM

Dilshan Perera and Niro B you'll try to sound intelligent but look worse than the names you call others. Learn to read first. The journalist reports an "uptick" in cases of leprosy and it "continues to rise". There is a reason for concern.

0 0

Add comment
Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.