PESHAWAR: After acquiring 11,500 injections for cutaneous leishmaniasis patients in the endemic districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the World Health Organisation has asked the government to help it with early import of 56,000 more injections by expediting the issuance of tax exemption certificates for others totaling 50,000.

The relevant officials told Dawn that the injections would be handed over to the provincial health department today (Friday).

They said the injections are the first of the three consignments the WHO had pledged at the request of the provincial government to deal with more than 21,000 patients affected by the skin problem.

The officials said two more consignments of 10,000 and 46,000 injections would reach the province in April.

First consignment of 11,500 injections arrives, two others expected in April

They said the UN health agency had requested the government to expedite injection import by issuing tax exemption certificates without delay to the relief of patients.

“The injections, which have arrived in Pakistan, have taken a long time for distribution to patients due to delay in their customs clearance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should issue tax exemption certificates immediately for the early arrival of the next two shipments,” an official said.

The official said the WHO has been facing issues regarding the shipment of lifesaving emergency drugs to Pakistan for the last three years and wanted the government to resolve them to ensure that essential medicines reach the affected population on time.

Sources said bulk of the injections would be used in the newly-merged tribal districts, where cutaneous leishmaniasis was endemic.

They said the authorities in tribal districts had so far been getting the support of NGOs to provide treatment to patients of the skin problem.

The sources said the KP government received 5,000 injections last month from the MSF and only 1,000 of them went to the tribal districts.

They said the Pakistan Army had been treating patients in the hospitals and medical camps of tribal districts but the injections were desperately needed.

The sources said Glucantime injection, the only drug of choice, was unavailable in the country and therefore, the government was getting it from the WHO and MSF.

They said the MSF had established a centre for cutaneous leishmaniasis patients in Peshawar last year, where 1,500 patients had so far been treated.

Officials of the health department told Dawn that they would receive drugs from the WHO and would give it records, including the number of patients and their addresses, to ensure their proper consumption.

They said at the request of the KP government, WHO expert Dr Murad was reaching Peshawar from Tunisia to train local dermatologists in management of cutaneous leishmaniasis and neglected tropical diseases.

The officials said the trained dermatologists would later act as master trainers in the province.

They said the training to be held in Peshawar next month would be attended by participants from other provinces.

The officials said the KP government had established a centre for cutaneous leishmaniasis in the endemic districts, where trained doctors and paramedics managed patients.

They said the health department was also carrying out a campaign in the affected districts to create public awareness of the prevention of the disease.

The officials said though not fatal, cutaneous leishmaniasis caused lifelong scarring leading to disfigurement of faces and limbs and therefore, the infected people, especially women, faced social rejection.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2019