PESHAWAR: Look up ‘leishmaniasis patients’ on internet and you will find hundreds of photos and videos of damaged and disfigured faces. The disease is not limited to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) however, the province does not have enough medicines for the treatment of every patient.
Leishmaniasis, the scientific name of the disease, is one of the most dangerous but the most neglected disease caused and spread by the bite of certain types of sand flies.
Big number
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has reported a total of 11000 cases of Leishmaniasis from across the province. Of which 3555 cases were reported from settled districts while 7698 from seven tribal districts. The worst hit district is Khyber where 4390 cases have been diagnosed followed by district Mohmand with 1015 cases. District Karak reported 988 cases; Hangu 982, Bajaur 663 and 684 cases were reported from South Waziristan. Khyber was also badly hit in the past and in 2018, the district reported 9000 cases while in 2019, this number reduced to 5303.
The government report said that although necessary measures, as response the disease, are being taken yet hundreds of cases go unnoticed. “The lack of surveillance systems and frequency of disease in remote areas and marginalized populations means that it is difficult to estimate the true number of leishmaniasis,” said provincial health department.
Expert’s opinion
Skin specialist Dr Mustafa Alam told Mashriq that there are different types of Leishmaniasis but the most common is Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Dr Alam added that it is a parasites disease that is caused by infected sandflies’ bits. Dr Alam informed that Pakistan is not the only country but the case is also reported from development countries. Dr Alam said that worldwide some 1.3 million cases are being reported that also causes up to 30,000 deaths annually.
Dr Alam said that cases in KP may be higher than reported by the health department, adding that people with low immunity are worst affected by the infected, such as child and senior citizens. The skin specialist maintained that it takes up to one year to fully recover from the disease.
The doctor informed that the area from where cases were reported is economically backward. He said that there is no electricity and people have no enough facilities to protect themselves from mosquito bite. He stressed the need for regular spray and distribution of mosquito nets. He said that lack of cleanliness also provide a suitable breeding ground for the sand-flies to grow. He rejected the common perception, saying that treatment of the disease is not that difficult and painful but unfortunately, there is always complaint of lack of relevant drugs.
Govt response
The provincial health department has said that the vector called sand fly is found in almost all districts throughout the year. The department said because of the severity of lashminia incidents, a provincial Leishmaniasis control center has been established at Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital. The center is established under the cutaneous Leishmaniasis project in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in May 2018. The purpose of center is to provide Health Services to Leishmaniasis patients from Peshawar and other areas including tribal districts. The health department said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides relevant injections – provided to every district as per needs – to the health department but the quantity is not sufficient for the treatment of all reported cases.