The World Health Organization (WHO) has said succour is on the way for people suffering from in the country, as they should be able to get hold of vital drugs to treat the disease for the first time in a year from this weekend.
With 2, 000 new cases of leprosy annually, the country ran out of supplies, partly because drugs were held up after new regulations were introduced.
The WHO said it had asked the federal government to briefly lift its new testing policy, and it expects the drugs to arrive from India on Sunday.
Leprosy is curable with a combination of different antibiotics, but if left untreated the patients’ health can deteriorate with sores, and nerve damage that cause deformities.
The treatment can last between six and 12 months.
But because of the lack of drugs, leprosy patients in the country have been sent home from hospitals, increasing the risk of the disease spreading further.
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A public health expert, and medical advisor at the Nigerian branch of the Leprosy Mission, Dr. Samimu Msheliza, highlighted the urgent need for medication, saying “we have thousands of newly diagnosed leprosy patients across various cities who are just waiting for this drug.
“The quicker we have the drugs, the better because currently, these people are suffering, their transmission is ongoing because they are not being treated.”
The Reuters news agency spoke to a woman at a hospital in Nasarawa State, Awwal Musa, who said her condition had got much worse, since she was not able to get hold of the combination of drugs.
All her fingers were clawed, and her legs discharged pus. “Before last year, my wounds were getting healed, but now, they are getting worse. The pain is worse,” she lamented.
