PESHAWAR, April 20: The World Health Organization has expressed concern over prevalence of skin disease leishmaniasis in different parts of the Frontier and called for adopting measures to control the ailment. WHO’s Emergency Medical Officer Dr Quaid Saeed said a WHO expert on the disease Jorge Olvar visited Afghanistan and Pakistan last month and suggested the authorities to take preventive measures.

“The influx of Afghan refugees in the Kurram Agency was the main reason for the outbreak of the disease because it originated from Afghanistan,” he said.

Leishmaniasis causes skin lesions mainly on the face, arms and legs of the patient. Although the disease is often self-healing, it can create permanent scars on the body. Children, especially girls in the age of 1-5 years are common victims.

Dr Saeed said the disease had been prevalent in Afghanistan for centuries as the country was situated on the cutaneous leishmaniasis belt. The WHO official said due to the prolonged war in Afghanistan, millions of Afghans left their home and took refuge in different parts of Pakistan, mainly in the NWFP and Balochistan.

“About 150,000 refugees are settled in the Kurram Agency alone since 1980. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees had reported 4,601 cases in 2001 in the refugee camp there,” he added.

The WHO conducted a three-day survey in the area which revealed 1,027 cases with every house had an average of 2.2 people affected with the infection.

The survey also showed that 71 per cent of patients got the disease in one year’s time, suggesting an impending epidemic in the region. He said Dr Desjeux Philip, a Geneva-based WHO expert, visited the region in January 2002 and suggested immediate treatment of 5,000 patients.

However, the government did not take any action and the problem aggravated so much that the disease had started affecting local people due to frequent movement of the refugees.