The Leprosy, TB and Blindness Relief Association has demanded the restoration of the 20-bed ward at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) reserved for treatment of Leprosy patients in the province.
The leprosy ward at LRH was the lone facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where patients from across the province were getting proper treatment and medicine free of cost, shared renowned surgeon Dr Arif who is serving voluntarily as President of Leprosy, TB and Blindness Relief Association KP.
Talking to newsmen during his visit to Peshawar Press Club, Surgeon Arif disclosed that after the demolition of the lone Leprosy Ward at LRH a couple of years earlier, patients of this chronic skin disease are suffering due to lack of proper treatment.
The leprosy patients are now referred to the skin ward of LRH where only four beds are reserved for patients which is insufficient and the majority of the patients are compelled to return to their homes where they could not get proper treatment and care, Dr Arif explained.
He said the leprosy patient needs months of proper treatment and healing which was provided at LRH ward, but now the patients are not able to get admission and have to stay at their homes.
About the number of patients, he said, around 100 patients come every year and in total there are thousands of patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially in its hilly terrain of Chitral, Swat, Dir and Buner districts.
The Leprosy Ward was established in the 1980’s with the support of MALC (Marie Adelaide Leprosy Center) headed by late Dr Ruth Pfau, a German lady who migrated in 1961 and devoted more than 55 years of her life to fighting leprosy in Pakistan. The Leprosy treatment ward at LRH was a ray of hope for patients who got proper treatment, care and free medicine including eyeglasses and special shows free of cost, Dr Arif recalls.
He also demanded the launching of a comprehensive programme for the treatment and control of leprosy in the province where several patients are thousands in number.
In this connection, he added, any announcement on the occasion of World Leprosy Day to be observed on Jan 28 would be very suitable.
Till 1964 when efforts were initiated to control of leprosy in Pakistan, around 10,000 patients have been registered in the province out of whom several died and the remaining are living a difficult life. The leprosy ward also played an effective role in the treatment of a large number of patients who after recovery are living a normal life.
Dr Arif also informed that there is no proper laboratory for the diagnosis testing of leprosy and tests are being referred to TB lab. He said almost 99 per cent of patients of leprosy are poor and cannot afford to get proper treatment at their homes and deserve official support for treatment and medicine as was being earlier provided at the Leprosy ward of LRH.
The patients used to get special therapies and attention at the ward which they cannot get from family members due to lack of knowledge and stigma associated with the illness, he continued.
He reiterated his request to the KP government to take notice of the plight and sufferings of leprosy patients and initiate measures for the revival of a special ward for them.