Health
Japanese charity Peshawar-Kai to resume leprosy treatment in Afghanistan
Peshawar-Kai, a Japanese aid organization, has announced that it will resume leprosy treatment in Afghanistan after around 15 years.
The charity will treat leprosy patients in memory of its former head Tetsu Nakamura, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.
The NGO will begin its leprosy treatment program in Afghanistan this year.
It will treat patients in areas such as Nangarhar province by providing medicines, training staff and sending mobile treatment teams.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused mainly by a type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae. The disease affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes.
Nakamura started treated leprosy patients in Pakistan in the 1980s and then began extensive activities, including the construction of water supply canals in Afghanistan.
The Japanese aid worker was killed in an armed attack in Jalalabad in December 2019.