-The Telegraph
Late treatment raises risk of deformities: Study
Several thousand leprosy patients in India are diagnosed with preventable deformities each year because they fail to recognise symptoms or receive delayed treatment, health researchers have cautioned, 13 years after India declared the disease had been “eliminated”.
A study covering Bengal and four other states has found that leprosy patients who delayed seeking medical advice by at least three months or whose healthcare providers delayed treatment by a month were at risk of disabilities, including deformities in their hands, feet or eyes.
The study, supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research, has underscored the need for health authorities to conduct disability audits and enhance awareness about leprosy and the risks of delayed diagnosis.
“We need disability audits of every leprosy patient with deformities to understand the local factors that contribute to the delays,” said Govindarajulu Srinivas, professor of epidemiology at the Tamil Nadu MGR Medical University, Chennai, who led the study.
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