No more leprosy tests in schools

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Health Ministry has decided to stop testing students for leprosy in schools, said Director of the Anti-Leprosy Campaign Dr. Prasad Ranaweera. He told the media yesterday that the decision had been taken considering the social stigma and possible psychological impact of being diagnosed with leprosy on children. Leprosy tests will now be conducted outside schools, Dr. Ranaweera said.”

About 80 percent of children have non-infectious leprosy. When we come to a school to test a student that places a lot of pressure on him or her. When such a test is done, a number of medical professionals arrive and that scares some children. On very rare occasions, others might be able to identify them. Taking all these into consideration, we have now decided not to test students for leprosy in schools,” he said.

Dr. Ranaweera also said that over 500 leprosy cases had been reported this year, and it was a significant increase compared to the first four months of last year.

Out of them, 218 cases have been reported from the Colombo, Gampaha, Batticaloa and Galle districts.