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Leprosy care being integrated into regional health services

Feb 11, 2014 News

Several healthcare providers in the public health sector are being trained to recognize, diagnose and refer persons infected with leprosy to undergo treatment at the Ministry of Health’s Leprosy Clinic.
Even though, leprosy is not a widespread infectious disease in Guyana, the Ministry wants to equip at least two medical practitioners in the Regions to ensure every person infected is treated. This is according to Dr. Heather Morris-Wilson, head of the Leprosy Clinic at the opening of a three-day leprosy training workshop being held at the Public Health Reference Laboratory.
Participants of the workshop include General Medical Officers, medex, and nurses from various communities including Skeldon, Kwakwani, Grove, and Beterverwagting/Plaisance.
According to Dr. Morris Wilson, leprosy is not a major problem in Guyana but remains a priority because of the damage caused to the infected person.
Leprosy is oftentimes mistaken as other skin problems such as ringworm and ‘lotta’. But, even with its various presentations, the most common sign is a rash, lighter than the colour of the surrounding skin with loss of sensation; hence it is termed the “numb spot disease”.
Dr. Morris-Wilson said that the longer the infection is undetected the person is more likely to experience complications, for example, chronic ulcers of the feet and blindness, because the bacteria has a preference for the peripheral nerves of the body. She asserted, however, that it is unlikely that a person could die from leprosy.
The Ministry of Health is moving away from the vertical system of providing specialized services to a more integrated approach where services are decentralized, said Dr. Morris Edwards of the Ministry of Health.
He said that leprosy, a stigmatized disease, usually affects the poorer section of society who does not really seek treatment. Unaware if the regional health facilities would be treating persons instead of referring, he said in the true scheme of the integrated system treatment should be decentralized.
The Ministry’s Leprosy Control Programme is being done in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/ World Health Organization.
PAHO’s Representative Dr. Maria Sanchez thanked Dr. Morris-Wilson and team for the work they are doing locally in the global fight to eliminate leprosy. She said although it is not a serious disease like malaria in Guyana, these meetings are relevant to create a network of persons to assist infected persons.
Dr. Sanchez noted that PAHO is available to provide support to the Ministry.
The lecturers of the Leprosy Training were Dr. Holly Alexander and Dr. Morris-Wilson. The three-day workshop will be focusing on leprosy situation worldwide and Guyana; classification and clinical manifestations; epidemiology; diagnosis; and deformities.

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