LANDI KOTAL: Cases of leishmaniasis have reached an alarming level in Landi Kotal subdivision of Khyber tribal area amid conflicting claims by the health officials with medical superintendent of the hospital complaining about acute shortage of necessary medicines and agency surgeon claiming to have treated maximum number of the affected patients.

Doctors at the main Landi Kotal hospital told this correspondent that they had been receiving 40 to 50 patients daily, mostly children with marks of bites on their faces and other open parts of the body by sand fly which caused common cutaneous leishmaniasis.

“Over 8,000 people were affected with cutaneous leishmaniasis during last three to four years with children below five as the prime target of sand fly,” medical superintendent Dr Khalid Javed told Dawn while examining two such patients in his office.

Doctors say they have been receiving 40 to 50 patients daily at the hospital

He said that despite rising number of such cases the health department provided them with only 60 glucotine injections which were administered to leishmania-affected patients. He said that the Directorate of Health Services, Fata, had supplied them with a thermo therapy machine which was proving effective in curing the scars caused by the victor sand fly. In view of the rising number of leishmania cases in tribal regions, the health directorate had placed an order for 22,000 glucotine injections to be imported from abroad as the medicine was not manufactured locally, sources said.

Senator Taj Mohammad also provided 500 glucotine injections to Landi Kotal hospital after he was approached by the doctors for help, while the army authorities provided at least 800 such injections to the directorate of health services of which 600 were distributed in Bara, Jamrud and Landi Kotal.

Dr Javed said that the cure rate with the use of thermotherapy was about 70 to 80 per cent. He said that the scar caused by the mosquito bite healed in a year or two and there was no danger of death from it. He said that now the health authorities were focusing on the prevention of cutaneous leishmaniasis with health teams being sent for fog and smoke spray alongside sensitising the residents about the use of mosquito repellents.

Agency surgeon Dr Shafeeq, however, gave an optimistic picture by saying that the disease was now almost under control with most of the over 8,000 patients either treated or were under treatment. He said that besides treatment they also provided mosquito nets to the needy local residents.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2018