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National TB and Leprosy Elimination Programme organized a media tour in Mzimba North where it has been communicated that insufficiency resources slows down the effort of fighting against leprosy though the country is still registering increased number of people suffering from the disease.
According to Phillip Maunda, Mzuzu Health Centre Clinician said about 18 Leprosy patients are being treated at Mzuzu Central Hospital since the health Centres have limited spaces and few experts or even none.
“While we can treat the cases at the moment, as a district we are worried due to lack of awareness and we are failing to intesify awareness campaigns around communities in the district due to lack of resources,” Maunda said.
He added that they are worried because the disease is contagious and can easily be passed on from one person to another due to unlearned.
Speaking on the matter, Dr James Mpunga, National TB and Leprosy Ellimination Programme coordinator said Leprosy was not receiving attention and resources in the past.
“Malawi achieved Leprosy elimination threshold in 1994 and for years Leprosy received no funding until but last year when a rise in leprosy cases in the last 3 years was noted,” Mpunga said.
He later said the Government of Malawi has decided join the programmes to easy resource mobilization and management of the two diseases.
“I can now say that this will be a thing of the past as we have donors like the World Bank who are ready to provide resources for the fight against Leprosy,” he concluded.
