People affected by leprosy in Nigeria are expected to gain access to essential medication for the first time in a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.
Nigeria, which records over 2,000 new cases annually, has been facing a critical shortage of leprosy drugs due in part to new import regulations that delayed shipments.
The WHO said it had urged the Nigerian authorities to temporarily ease their testing policy, allowing the long-awaited drugs to arrive from India by Sunday.
Leprosy is treatable with a combination of antibiotics, but without proper medication, patients can develop severe complications, including nerve damage and deformities.
The standard treatment lasts between six and twelve months. However, due to the drug shortage, many patients have been sent home untreated, increasing the risk of further transmission.
Dr. Samimu Msheliza, a public health expert and medical advisor for the Nigerian branch of the Leprosy Mission, underscored the urgency of the situation.
“We have thousands of newly diagnosed leprosy patients across various cities who are just waiting for this drug,” he told the BBC.
“The quicker we have [the drugs], the better, because currently these people are suffering, their transmission is ongoing because they are not being treated.”
The Reuters news agency reported the case of Awwal Musa, a patient at a hospital in Nasarawa state, whose condition has deteriorated due to the unavailability of treatment.
“Before last year, my wounds were getting healed but now they are getting worse. The pain is worse,” she said. Musa, whose fingers are now clawed and legs discharge pus, fears that the nerve damage she has sustained may be irreversible.
Nigeria’s drug regulatory body implemented stricter import measures to combat the circulation of counterfeit and substandard medicines.
In recent years, several drugs have been recalled for failing to meet safety standards. However, these new regulations have also inadvertently disrupted the supply of essential treatments, including those for leprosy.
Source-BBC
