Sri Lankan health officials have observed a significant increase in leprosy cases in 2023.
Officials said that a total of 864 patients were detected during the first seven months of the year, and 161 of these patients were from Colombo.
The Anti Leprosy Campaign at Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry said that 47 leprosy patients were recorded from the Egodawela MOH zone alone.
In a media briefing held last month, the Health Promotion Bureau stated that the highest number of Leprosy patients recorded this year were found from the Moratuwa area in Colombo District.
Speaking at the media briefing, Moratuwa MoH Manjula Thillakaratne had said that 51 Leprosy patients were recorded from Moratuwa and 08 of them were children under the age of 14 years.
Dr. Prasad Ranaweera from the Anti Leprosy Campaign said an awareness campaign will commence in the Western Province next week.
Although Sri Lanka eliminated leprosy in 1995, after having achieved the elimination target of less than one case of leprosy per 10,000 of the population, recent statistics point to a rising trend in leprosy incidence, said the World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2023.
Sri Lanka has been recognized by WHO as one of 23 “global priority countries” for Leprosy, emphasizing the need for targeted efforts to sustain elimination status and a final push towards ending Leprosy in the country.
