Many of us might not have even heard of leprosy before, so let’s tell you a little about the disease before starting with our 11 countries with the highest rates of leprosy in the World
Leprosy has become one of the major problems of the world, especially of the developing world. It is affecting the lives of people greatly. About three million people are facing permanent disability due to this disease. Countries like Brazil, Indonesia and India are dealing with a large number of leprosy cases.
Back in 1999, there were nearly 650,000 cases recorded. A year later, the figure went over 738,000. There were about 91 countries where the infection had spread. Some badly affected countries like, India, Nepal and Myanmar made up the 70% of all the cases. A couple of years later, there was an increase in the number of cases. About 23,000 more cases were found worldwide and this time Brazil, Nepal, Mozambique and Tanzania were among the list comprising the most number of cases.
The latest findings have shown a substantial decrease in leprosy cases being recorded. The number of cases worldwide has gone down by 21 percent (2003 to 2004).
Those who don’t know what the disease is, here is a small explanation – it is basically a contagious disease that causes lumps and discoloration on the skin. The disease is now mostly found in the African and Asian regions. There are more than one reasons why one can become a victim to this disease. Mostly it becomes common in places with pollution, insufficient and unhealthy diet, contaminated water or diseases like HIV.
It is a disease that needs to be taken care of, although there has been a drop in the number of cases worldwide, it is till common in countries of Africa and Asia.
A lot of countries have taken initiative to eradicate the disease completely. Chinese government set up a village for infected people back in the 1950s. These people were asked to live there until they recover. The disease can now be cured with the help of drugs. Several other countries like France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Malta and Great Britain have made efforts to completely eliminate the disease from their country. Countries affected by this disease can also learn a great from the healthier nations, which are listed in our article Country-by-Country Life Expectancy: The World’s 15 Healthiest Countries
So, in case you are wondering, here is our list of 11 countries still battling leprosy.
11. Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire stands at number 11. The country had about 976 cases in 2006. The figure went up to 1,204 in 2007. However, it came down to 998. According to the stats from 2012, Côte d’Ivoire had 1,000 cases of leprosy.
10. China
Back in 2005, the country had about 1,658 cases of leprosy. A year later the number of cases came down to 1,506. According to the stats of 2012, the country has observed a drop in numbers with 1,206 cases. That is quite a decent change, keeping in mind the figures of 2005.
9. Madagascar
In 2005, Madagascar had a total of 2,709 cases. A year later, the figure dropped down to 1,536. Since then the number of cases revolved around 1500 to 1600 mark.
8. South Sudan
According to the stats taken out in 2011, the country had 1,799 cases of leprosy. A year later there was only a subtle increase in cases with 1,801 leprosy victims.
7. Philippines
In 2005, there were about 3,130 cases of leprosy in Philippines. A couple of years later the figure dropped down to 2,514. In 2009 the country saw the least number of leprosy cases with 1,795 leprosy victims. However, the stats in 2012 showed that the country had about 2,150 cases.
6. Sri Lanka
Back in 2007, the country had a total of 2,024 cases of leprosy, however, a couple of year later, the figure went down to 1,875. According to the stats of 2012, the country has yet again seen an increase in the number of cases with the figure going up to 2,191.
5. Myanmar
Number five on our list of 11 Countries With The Highest Rates of leprosy in The World is Myanmar. In 2005, Myanmar had about 3,571 cases of leprosy, the figure kept on increasing until 2009 when the country saw a drop in the number of leprosy victims to 3,147. The figure went up to 3,013 in 2012; however, it was still lower than that of 2005.
4. Nepal
Nepal is amongst the major countries facing the problem of leprosy. In 2012 there were 3,492 cases of leprosy. It is a substantial drop from its figure of 6,150 in 2005.
3. Nigeria
In 2006, Nigeria had about 5,204 cases. The figure came down to 3,544 after one year. From 2007 t0 2009 the cases didn’t come down from 4000. However, in 2011 the number of cases came down to 3,623 which was lowest from the year 2005 till 2012.
2. Brazil
Brazil is amongst the two major countries facing the problem of leprosy with 38,410 cases in 2005 only. In, 212 however, the figure came down 33,303, still a lot but lower compared to 2005.
1. India
India is at the top in our list of 11 countries with the highest rates of leprosy in the World, with 169,709 leprosy cases in 2005. In 2012, however, there has been a substantial drop with the figure coming down to 134,752 cases.
