As one way of increasing case detection and treatment of leprosy patient in the country, the National TB and Leprosy Programme (NTLEP) is planning to decentralise it’s treatment to health centers from District Hospitals.
In an interview on the sidelines of a two-day biannual meeting of Faith-Based leaders and journalists in Salima on Monday, NTLEP Monitoring and Evaluation officer Henry Kanyerere said the move will enable patients to receive treatment and care within their reach.
“We have observed that some patients travell long distances to access treatment which is sometimes a burden for most patients resulting into District Hospital registering low numbers of patients despite having a lot of patients,” he said adding that the move will ease mobility challenges being faced by bothe sides.
However, he was not certain as to when the decentralisation process will be implemented.
“We need to do some ground work first like training enough personnel but by the end of this year we are hoping that this will be implemented in some selected health centers, so it will be done in phases,” he said.
Leprosy resurfaced in Malawi after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that it had achieved elimination threshold for the disease in 1994.
It is one of the world’s oldest known diseases. Although the number of cases has plummeted from 5.2 million in 1985 to about 210,000 a year now, it still exists in more than 100 countries.
