Brazil Wants to End Leprosy by 2010. Disease Affects 38,000 a Year

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) honorary ambassador for the Elimination of Hansen’s Disease, Yohei Sasakawa, and the Brazilian Minister of Health, Agenor Àlvares, discussed ways to erradicate this endemic disease, which is also known as leprosy.

In Brazil, which is second only to India in the incidence of Hansen’s disease, the ministry identified 38,410 cases last year.

Sasakawa is the founder of the Nippon Foundation, an organization that buys medications to treat the disease and donates them to the WHO for distribution.

According to the ministry’s director of Epidemiological Surveillance, Expedito Luna, Brazil has made substantial progress in combatting Hansen’s disease in the past two years, but much remains to be done, especially in the North and Northeast regions. The goal is to eliminate the disease by 2010.

"Our policy is to expand the network of services that can provide diagnosis and treatment in order to facilitate people’s access to the necessary care," Luna explained, adding that the Family Agents and Community Health Agents programs are also enlisted to increase the capacity to detect cases "and submit them to treatment, avoiding further infection."

With an average of 1.5 cases in every 10 thousand inhabitants, through the program Brazil can reduce this number to less than 1 case in every 10 thousand inhabitants.

Luna also pointed out that, besides prejudice, the chief obstacle to combatting the disease is the lack of specialized physicians. "Specialists are very rare nowadays. Doctors are reluctant and prejudiced when it comes to assuming responsibility for treating cases."

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil Upset Over Blair’s Little Omission

Relations between Britain and Brazil have struck a new low after a careless slip ...

In Brazil E-commerce Grows 50% a Year and Accounts for 17% of Sales

At a growth rate of 50% a year, electronic commerce is emerging as a ...

Brazil, a Superpower in Cookie Consumption, Just Behind the US

Brazilian cookie exports totaled US$ 114 million last year, which represented growth of 24.5% ...

Lula Tours 5 Latin American Countries on an Ethanol Boosting Mission

Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, began a six-day, five-nation tour Sunday, August ...

Brazil: Alleged Killer of US Nun Says He Acted in Self-Defense

The man accused of killing American nun and rain forest defender Dorothy Stang told ...

The Boys in the Band

Aline couldn’t believe that Eugênio was saying all those things, asking for time, putting ...

Brazil: When El Dorado Was Here

The food arrived on the steamships from Europe and North America. Trade between Manaus ...

Brazil’s Ricupero Retires from Unctad

The secretary general at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), the ...

Brazil’s Favela Sounds Promise Hot Season in London

Music from the favelas near the Queen’s home at Buckingham Palace? It may sound ...

GDP, Inflation and Interest Rates Expected to Go Up in Brazil Next Year

According to a Brazil's Central Bank poll among financial experts, which is published weekly ...