Leprosy almost eliminated, says government

Leprosy is under control in Democratic Republic of Congo where the number of cases being reported has fallen dramatically, health officials said.

"Our country made a commitment to eliminate leprosy nationally by the end of 2007. Today, we consider it done," Makwenge Kaput, the minister of health said. The number of people infected had reduced to less than one case per 10,000 people.

However, Makwenge said, the reduction in the number of leprosy cases nationally did not signify a complete eradication of the disease.

There are still at least 8,000 recorded cases of the disease across the country, an official of a Belgian NGO involved in leprosy and tuberculosis control, Pamphile Lubamba, said.

The cases were mainly in the district of Tanganyika in the province of Katanga, in Tshopo in Orientale province, in the western district of Maindombe in the province of Bandundu and in the northwestern province of Equateur.

Lubamba said the health zone of Moba in the district of Tanganyika was the worst affected with 500 to 1,000 new cases being registered each year.

At least 697 cases of leprosy were detected in the first six months of the year in the district of Tanganyika, 360 of the cases were reported in Moba, according to official statistics.

"Even if leprosy has been eliminated as a public health problem, efforts to reduce its prevalence in the province should still continue," Lubamba said.

The director of the national leprosy control programme Mputu Luengo said screening for leprosy had been improved in the affected health zones with the infected undergoing treatment that had led to their recovery. This reduced the spread of the disease across the country.

Luengo said a leprosy screening campaign was underway in the provinces of Bandundu, Equateur, Katanga and Orientale.

There is a high leprosy and tuberculosis prevalence, especially among the indigenous communities, in the districts of Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele in the province of Orientale.

According to the medical coordinator at the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Centre, Jacques Kumbaluka, a lack of access to health care among the indigenous communities mainly living along the border with Southern Sudan and the Central African Republic had aggravated the prevalence of the disease in the regions.

ei/aw/sr