Public asked to take preventive measures against leishmaniasis

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Department has issued advisory for general public regarding protection from leishmaniasis, a skin disease caused by sandfly bite.

A colored advertisement has been published in prominent national dailies of the country containing advice and remedial measures to prevent the skin disease which is not only painful but is also considered as stigma because of the scar and disfigurement it causes on the face or other infected parts of body.

The advisory was issued to apprise people about protective measures that should be adopted especially in rural settlements where sandfly is found, says Salahuddin Marwat, Entomologist Integrated Vector Control and Management Programme K-P.

Talking to APP, Salahuddin said that awareness about leishmaiasis was non-existent among the masses and these infections were increasing with the passage of time.

In 2018, there was an outbreak of leishmaniasis in K-P, infecting around 28,000 people in merged and adjacent southern districts.

Medecines Sans Frontier (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization, set up a treatment center in Peshawar after the outbreak and is providing free of cost treatment to thousands of patients in the province.

In the advisory people are also informed that leishmaniasis cannot transmit from one human to another.

Similarly, people are urged to cover body parts as protection from sting of mosquito and sand fly, avoid sleeping in open spaces during night, use mosquito nets or repellents, spray insect killer in rooms, ensure cleanliness at home as sandfly is attracted to animal dung and waste, cover cracks in walls and holes made by rats.

People are also asked to started treatment at the earliest soon after appearance of the lesion. Don’t do traditional treatment but visit selected treatment centers set up by health department for proper and timely treatment of the infection.

Marwat said majority of infected people delay treatment which aggravates the disease, and causes pain and disfigurement.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2022.