In Province No. 1, Jhapa and Morang are known as the districts with the highest number of leprosy patients. According to the Health Directorate Dhankuta, Jhapa ranks in the first place and Morang in the second among the 14 districts.
Of the 385 new leprosy patients in the state, 164 are in Jhapa, 103 in Morang and 29 in Sunsari, according to the office. In other districts, it is negligible. According to Tara Devi Subedi, leprosy focal person of the office, the incidence rate per patient per 10,000 population is 1.42 in Jhapa and 1.21 in Morang. Subedi says both of these districts are at high risk.
He said that the goal is to eradicate leprosy by 2030. He said that in order to dispel the misconceptions and fears about leprosy, the family and the community should be informed about the disease and its spread, advise the patients to get regular treatment and information about the availability of treatment, send the suspected leprosy patients to the health facility. He said that he would provide factual information about the disease to prevent discrimination among the families and communities.
He said that he would take initiative with the three-tier government to eliminate discrimination while respecting human rights and abolishing discriminatory laws against leprosy. Chudamani Luitel, a statistic officer at the Public Health Office, Jhapa, said that leprosy was more prevalent among the poor families, especially in the densely populated Terai community.
He informed that the leprosy patients of Province No. 1 would be identified and given regular medicine and if they have any problem, they would be sent to Lalgarh Hospital in Dhanusa and Anandavan Hospital in Kathmandu for treatment.
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