LARKANA, May 3: The World Health Organization in collaboration with the ministry of health has started a survey prior to launching a leishmaniasis control programme in the country. Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, Dr Quaid Saeed of the WHO said the objective of the programme was to control leishmaniasis which was spreading fast in Pakistan.

He said the WHO, keeping in view the intensity of the skin disease, had at the outset allocated $70,000 for the purpose.

Being the five-phased programme initially the work would start in only high-risk districts of the country.

The intervention would be expanded to other districts after establishing the programme in the high-risk districts.

He said the WHO that would bear all expenses was interested in health management investigation system which included training, treatment, monitoring and evolving reporting mechanism.

He said 11 districts of the NWFP and seven tribal agencies were badly affected by leishmaniasis as the disease had travelled from Afghanistan in year 2000. Balochistan had encountered the disease in 1935 after a high-scale earthquake shook the Quetta city.

He said Dadu, Jacobabad and Larkana had been isolated as the high-risk districts in Sindh.

Dr Saeed said if the disease was not controlled at this juncture it would affect the whole of Sindh.

He met Dr Khalil Katpar and Dr Farooque Soomro, focal person for leishmaniasis to map out a plan to go ahead with the national programme.

At present Warah, Qambar and Shahdadkot sub-divisions of the Shahdadkot district were identified as the high-risk areas while Ratodero, Mirokhan, Larkana and Dokri were labelled as medium and low risk areas.

He was briefed that from January to April 2005 around 3,500 cases of leishmaniasis were attended and provided medicines in the defunct Larkana district.