Leprosy
Mailing List, June 19th, 2008
Ref.: High case detection
of leprosy in Pando, Bolivia
From: Villarreal
Olaya M. E., La Paz, Bolivia
Dear Dr Noto,
Thank you very much to Dr Eggens for translating the summary of our
paper in English (LML 15th, 06 2008) and, for his
comments (LML 17th, 06 2008). Certainly, the detection
percentage in Pando is very high, this can explain to you because
during the last two decades they had registered per year around 1 to 2
patients. Because the
leprosy programme in Pando didn't work, there have never been carried
out activities of active search, the reason is the personnel that
works in Pando don't have the due training in leprosy and therefore
they didn't show interest.
The year 2007-2008 with the cooperation of an ONG COINFA
were carried out campaigns of dermatologist attention with the purpose
of finding cases of leprosy, and we registered all that are informed
in the paper, this organization it had not considered in its budget
the follow up of the patients, control of the domiciliary focus
neither the disabilities prevention.
For that a great quantity of patients has not continued
their treatment, no exist personnel qualified in follow up and lack of
economic resources to be able to move to the rural areas where they
have registered the cases.
In November arrived to Cobija (Pando) a commission from
Brazil headed by the Dr. Wood who is expert in leprosy to verify the
realized diagnoses, he congratulated the work that has been carried
out.
Bolivia is neighbouring with Brazil in a great extension;
the data that were reported until 2005 not showed our true reality, I
consider that we should begin to work and to admit our reality, that
we have leprosy in
Bolivia.
Best regards,
Dra. Maria Esther Villarreal O.
La Paz, Bolivia
