The director of Cambodia’s leprosy program on Wednesday urged people with rashes that are numb to the touch to seek treatment immediately .
“People who have red or white [rashes] that feel numb should go to the hospital for treatment,” said Lai Ky, officer in charge of the National Leprosy Program. “The hospital is free.
“If they don’t seek treatment in time, they will be disabled,” he added.
At a roundtable discussion on Wednesday, health officials concluded the disease was rare but still not extinct. During the first half of this year, 583 patients received treatment, 410 new cases were detected and 305 successfully ended treatment, Lai Ky said.
In 1998 the leprosy program reached its goal of less than one case per 10,000 people, marking the end of leprosy as a national public health problem, Lai Ky said. By 2001 the rate was 0.47 cases per 10,000.
But the rate still exceeds one per 10,000 cases in Oddar Meanchey, Stung Treng and Ratanakkiri provinces, he said. Those provinces represent 2.5 percent of the country’s population, said Jim Tulloch, World Health Organization representative in Cambodia.
“Achieving the elimination goal at the national level must not make us complacent,” Tulloch said. “There are still pockets of high prevalence at the sub-national level. New cases will continue to occur for years to come.
“We must maintain the mechanisms to detect and treat these new cases, and maintain efforts to rehabilitate disabled leprosy patients.”
The leprosy virus can stay in the bloodstream for five to 10 years before victims begin to show symptoms. The virus is contagious through blood, mucous or saliva, but that should not cause families to isolate victims or doctors to refrain from treating them, health officials said.
Leprosy can be cured within six to 12 months, Lai Ky said. The disease is not lethal, but if it is not treated it can make victims vulnerable to other deadly diseases, he said. Marks on the body can be permanent, he said.
People who suspect they have symptoms can go to their provincial health centers. They may also go to the National Leprosy Center on Street 95 in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon District, near Preah Yukunthor High School, he said.
“There is a significant group of leprosy patients that have not received optimal treatment,” Minister of Health Hong Sun Huot told participants. “Possibly they were not aware of their illness, and did not have access to health services. Often they may be stigmatized within their communities.”
