LALITPUR: The number of patients with leprosy visiting Aanandaban Hospital at Godawari Municipality-6 in Lalitpur district has dropped in the previous fiscal year, 2019/20 as compared to the FY 2018/19 amid Covid-19 pandemic.
A total of 2044 leprosy patients visited the hospital in the FY 2019/20 as compared to 2921 in the FY 2018/19. Leprosy patients did not visit the hospital fearing the infection, thus decreasing their number, said Dr Mahesh Shah, medical director of the hospital.
The hospital provided free treatment to 298 leprosy patients during the virus, said Gopal Pokharel, training coordinator at The Leprosy Mission Nepal. “Out of 72 leprosy patients who were kept in a hospital quarantine, 17 were tested positive for the infection,” he said.
The number of leprosy patients who received treatment from various clinics of the hospital across the country has reached 7,058, according to the hospital.
Nepal observed World Leprosy Day on January 31 with the theme of ‘Our restraint amid Covid-19 pandemic, promptness in managing leprosy in time’.
Although the World Health Organization in 2010 declared eradication of leprosy from Nepal, the number of the disease patients is 0.77 out of each 10,000 population in Nepal, it has been said. RSS
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