DILI, 25 january 2022 (TATOLI) – The Ministry of Health will commemorate World Leprosy Day, in the municipality of Bobonaro, on 28 january to combat leprosy in the country.
The celebration of World Leprosy Day will be inaugurated by the Minister of Health, Odete Maria Freitas Belo.
The head of the Neglected Tropical Diseases Program (NTDs) of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), Jose Liu Fernandes said the ministry had decided to commemorate the international day in the municipality of Bobonaro, as new cases of leprosy increased in the municipality.
“This year, the commemoration of World Leprosy Day will take place on January 28, in the municipality of Bobonaro. This celebration aims to spread information about eradicating leprosy to the community in the municipality of Bobonaro,” Fernandes told TATOLI, in his office, Dili, tuesday.
He said the public needed to know the disease and the worst effects of the disease itself so that they could go to the nearest health center for treatment.
“All relevant entities, including all development partners and NGOs who have worked to fight leprosy in Timor-Leste will be invited to attend the commemoration. We also invite people with leprosy and the community to attend the commemoration of the day. It is important for the community to know the worst impact of leprosy,” he said.
Fernandes said the worst impact of leprosy is blindness and other leprosy-related disorders. Therefore, contact tracing and screening are important to detect leprosy sufferers.
“At the celebration, we will conduct screening and contact tracing to detect people with leprosy. Towards the celebration of international day, we have detected more than 20 cases of leprosy in the municipality of Bobonaro. Contact tracing is important to find out the condition of leprosy patients who are undergoing treatment. For example, last year we detected only three people with leprosy in one family, but then two other family members also had leprosy,” he said.
Fernandes said the leprosy awareness campaign would be broadcast on TV and radio across the country to raise public awareness in the fight against leprosy in Timor-Leste.
He said that since 2000, the Ministry of Health has recorded more than 5,000 cases of leprosy in Timor-Leste.
World Leprosy Day is held every year on the last sunday of january
The theme for World Leprosy Day 2022 is ‘United for Dignity. This campaign honors the life experiences of individuals who have had leprosy.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia B
