After waiting for more than a year, Nigerians with leprosy will finally be able to obtain critical drugs to treat the disease, which were due to arrive in the county this past weekend, the World Health Organisation has said.
The country, which reports more than 2 000 new cases a year, ran out of supplies partly because drugs were held up after new regulations were introduced, reports the BBC.
The WHO said it had asked Nigeria to briefly lift its new testing policy, and the drugs were to arrive from India on Sunday.
Leprosy is curable with a combination of different antibiotics, but if left untreated, patients’ health can deteriorate, with sores and nerve damage that cause deformities.
The treatment can last between six and 12 months.
Because of the lack of drugs in the country, patients have been sent home from hospitals without them. Unfortunately, without the medication to suppress transmission, this has increased the risk of the disease spreading.
Dr Samimu Msheliza, a public health expert and medical adviser at the Nigerian branch of the Leprosy Mission, highlighted the urgent need for the treatment.
“We have thousands of newly diagnosed leprosy patients across various cities who are just waiting for this drug,” he told the BBC.
“The sooner we have (the drugs), the better, because currently these people are suffering, their transmission is ongoing because they are not being treated.”
One woman at a hospital in Nasarawa state told Reuters her condition had deteriorated since she was unable to get hold of the drugs.
All of her fingers were clawed and her legs discharged pus. “Before last year, my wounds were healing, but now they are getting worse. The pain is worse,” she was quoted as saying.
The nerve damage may be irreversible.
Nigeria’s drug authority has introduced new regulations for medicines aimed at tackling the importation of counterfeit and sub-standard drugs, after several medicines have been recalled for failing to meet safety standards in recent years.
However, the new measures have had an impact on the availability of crucial treatments, including those for leprosy.
BBC article – Vital leprosy drugs due in Nigeria after year delay (Open access)
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