Home ›› 30 Aug 2021 ›› News
Around 76 per cent of people affected by leprosy in Bangladesh are facing a severe financial crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, a recent study reveals.
The findings of the study by The Leprosy Mission International Bangladesh (TLMIB) were disclosed at a workshop on ‘Leprosy Research Dissemination’ in the conference room at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Dhaka on Sunday.
The workshop was jointly arranged by National Leprosy Program (NLP) and TLMIB, reads a press release.
The study titled ‘An assessment of Covid-19 impact on persons affected by leprosy in Bangladesh’ was funded by NOREC.
A research team under the leadership of Jiptha Boiragee, program support coordinator, TLMIB conducted the research from March 2021 to August 2021.
Source of income reduced
The research findings, presented by Roton Malo, project officer of TLMIB, show that 26 per cent of leprosy-affected persons (PAL) had no source of income during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 47.85 per cent of PAL had no income source for one to 10 months during the pandemic. Only 26.27 per cent of PAL had regular working opportunities for survival.
Food shortage
A total of 46.61 per cent of families of persons affected by leprosy faced food shortages during the pandemic while eight out of total 255 respondents (51 per cent men and 49 per cent women) said they married off their underaged daughters to reduce family expenses.
The study, conducted in 17 districts from all eight divisions, also reveals that 89.8 per cent of people affected by leprosy could not go to the hospital for the necessary leprosy-related services due to countrywide movement restrictions induced by the pandemic.
Hospital services
The study says that 35.62 per cent of PAL with leprosy-related ulcers stayed home without treatment services during the pandemic while 23.62 per cent of PAL received ulcer care at government hospitals.
Covid-19 vaccination
Until July 2021, no leprosy patient in Bangladesh was vaccinated against Covid-19 while 43 per cent of PAL disagreed to be vaccinated and 42 per cent of family members of PAL opined that their PAL members did not need to be vaccinated.
Discussants at the research dissemination event emphasised a mass awareness programme by NLP, partnering organisations to motivate PAL and their family members to be vaccinated to be safe from coronavirus infections.
Mental health status
The study also found 27 per cent of persons affected by leprosy having major depression while 5 per cent were living with minor depression and the well-being status of 49 per cent PAL started to reduce.
TLMIB research team used the Five-Wellbeing Index introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO) to examine the mental health status of PAL.
Professor Dr Md Samiul Islam, director of Micro Bacterial Disease Control (MBDC) of DGHS, directed the programme manager of NLP and other officials to take necessary steps for smooth services for people affected by leprosy in Bangladesh.
Researchers of TLMIB also disclosed findings of two more medical research titled ‘Effectiveness of single-dose rifampicin after BCG vaccination to prevent leprosy in close contacts of patients with newly diagnosed leprosy: A cluster randomized controlled trial’ and ‘Patients with skin smear positive leprosy in Bangladesh are the main risk factor for leprosy development: 21-year follow-up in the household contact study (COCOA)’.
Dr Abu Sufian Chowdhury, research coordinator of TLMIB and Md Khorshed Alam, project manager of TLMIB presented the findings of two medical studies.
Dr Md Shamiul Islam presided over the meeting attended by Dr Md Enamul Haque, deputy director of MBDC and manager of National Leprosy Program as the chief guest.
