COLOMBO (News 1st); 387 leprosy patients have been reported so far in 2022, said the Anti-Leprosy Campaign.

Its Director, Dr. Prasad Ranaweera stated that about 2,000 patients are being reported each year.

Ranaweera stated that it usually takes about 3 to 5 years for symptoms to appear after coming into contact with the bacteria that causes leprosy.

He said that Leprosy causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms, legs, and skin areas around your body.

Dr. Ranaweera said that about 10% of all patients reported are children under the age of 14.

The World Health Organisation set a 2001 target to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem.

However Sri Lanka eliminated this target five years early, reducing the number of cases by less than one person in every 10,000 of its population in 1995.

Having reached its target the country adopted a lax approach by integrating the disease under the general health services providing treatments through dermatology clinics with the prevention aspect dealt by district control team.

Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae). Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease, after the scientist who discovered M. leprae in 1873.

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