193 New Leprosy Patients Found in Banke in FY 082/083

Banke. In the last fiscal year 082/083, 193 new leprosy patients have been found. 193 new patients affected by leprosy have been found at Shining Hospital located in Janaki Rural Municipality-3, Manpur, Banke. Of these, 81 patients are from Banke, informed Shining Hospital Chief Mangal Tharu. According to him, 62 percent of the identified patients were found to have the leprosy germ. The germ of the disease was found in patients who came for health check-ups from Banke, Bardiya, and other hilly districts. "The prevalence rate of leprosy in Banke district has not decreased, the rate of new patients being found is increasing every year", said Hospital Chief Tharu, "Banke is at high risk in Lumbini Province." Shining Hospital has been carrying out activities such as identification of leprosy patients, disability prevention and treatment, leprosy contact testing, community-level skin and leprosy identification camps, capacity building training for health workers, community leprosy awareness programs, and free treatment services. In the fiscal year 081/082, 174 and in 080/081, 146 new leprosy patients were identified and sent to various health institutions for treatment. Chief of the Health Office Banke, Sunita Poudel, stated that the behavior, stigma, and discrimination towards leprosy patients in society have not been able to be removed, emphasizing that the state needs to bring new policies and programs to raise public awareness and identify new patients. Due to the government's lack of special leprosy eradication policies and programs, government health institutions are compelled to seek assistance from organizations like Shining Hospital and INF to identify new patients.