Dr Emmanuel Tabat of the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo, Taraba, on Sunday called for immunisation of infants to prevent leprosy and other diseases.
Tabat made the call in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in commemoration of the World Leprosy Day (WLD).
It is celebrated every last Sunday in January to raise more awareness on the disease.
The 2021 theme is “Beat Leprosy, End Stigma and Advocate for Mental Well-Being.”
According to him, immunising infants will further boost their immune system and reduce the risk of contracting any infectious diseases that might be hazardous to their health.
He said leprosy was curable and early treatment reduced the damages sustained from the illness.
“Leprosy is curable. Infected people can be taken to treatment centres as quickly as possible.
“Better than cure is prevention. So infants immunised properly and well fed are less likely to be infected.
“Once infected persons are treated quickly enough and properly, they are not infective at some stages,” Tabat said.
He, however, added that even though the disease was infectious, it wasn’t too contagious.
He said children, malnourished and other vulnerable sets of people were more likely to be infected than a healthy adult.
“For one to be infected, the person must come into close and repeated contact with droplets from the nose and mouth of an untreated infected person.
“The better the immunity of an individual, the less likely the person is going to be infected,” Tabat said.
He explained further that the disease majorly affected the skin, nerves, the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes.
“It does not cause the arms and feet to fall off.
“The disfiguring of the hands and feet of lepers are usually as a result of loss of sensation and skin changes associated with the disease,” he said.
The expert, therefore, advised against stigmatising those with the disease as it contributed to their developing psychological problem.
“With the proper knowledge about leprosy, we can try to stop the stigma associated with it. It is an infection with a cure and not a curse or as infectious as people believe it to be.
“Apart from healing their bodies, their minds are equally important.
“Also cured and successful lepers can be publicised better to give hope to the currently infected and also to educate the general public,” Tabat said.
Yohei Sasakawa, World Health Organisation (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination said about 200,000 new cases were diagnosed worldwide every year with the disease, of which 15,000 were children.
