Nigeria will finally get leprosy medications after a year-long wait

The World Health Organization reports that it will ship leprosy medications to Nigeria this weekend, following the resolution of testing delays that caused thousands of patients, including children, to be denied the medication they require to avoid disability for a full year.

Leprosy, which is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae and mostly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, and eyes, affects more than 1,000 people each year in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. The disease can be cured with multi-drug therapy, but if left untreated, it worsens and results in deformities like blindness and paralysis. Patients are also stigmatized.

But in early 2024, Nigeria ran out of stock of the multi-drug therapy because one of the components was made in India, and new local testing restrictions on imported medications caused a bureaucratic delay in supplies.

According to the U.N. special rapporteur on leprosy, who spoke to Reuters, the delay, which caused major suffering in Nigeria, is only one instance of the fragility of a worldwide system that has recently seen stockouts in nations like India, Brazil, and Indonesia.

The U.N. health agency, which arranges shipments of the drug, had requested a one-time waiver on the new testing criteria when Nigeria ran out of leprosy medications, a WHO official told Reuters. That exemption was given in January.

According to the spokesperson’s email, “a shipment of leprosy medications from India has been confirmed for March 8th, with arrival in Nigeria on March 9th.”

“THE PAIN IS WORSE”

The risk of spreading the infectious disease, which is believed to be spread by respiratory droplets and prolonged contact, is increased because, when Reuters visited the ERCC Hospital in Nasarawa state, 200 km (124 miles) west of the capital Abuja, in February, only two leprosy patients were admitted. Since last year, 26 others had been sent home because of the shortage.

Awwal Musa, one of the patients, reported that since her medication ceased a year ago, her health has gotten worse. She had pus leaking from her legs and all of her fingers were clawed.

“My wounds were starting to heal before last year, but they are currently becoming worse. She told Reuters during a visit to the medical center, “The pain is worse.”

In the past year, ERCC health professionals stated, they have worked to keep patients from being permanently incapacitated.

“Where are you going to obtain the fingers and provide them again if they lose them? Who will restore their sight if it is lost? “The complications are getting worse every day,” hospital director Kuzeh Thomas stated.

According to WHO data, Nigeria is one of 12 nations that record 1,000–10,000 cases a year, trailing only Brazil, India, and Indonesia.

Each nation submits an annual request to the WHO for leprosy doses, a capsular medicine that is provided over a 12-month period. Nigeria’s request was late, according to health sources.

An inquiry was not answered by Nigeria’s National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control.

The medications are produced by Novartis (NOVN.S), open a new tab, and are given away for free to a WHO initiative. Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, according to health sector insiders, demanded extra testing for doses created by Sandoz, a Novartis spin-off, when the consignment arrived in Nigeria because that component was manufactured in Indian facilities.

A representative for Sandoz (SDZ.S), which launches a new tab, stated that “for contractual reasons, [we] cannot share details of our supplies to third parties.” According to Novartis, it “remained committed to work towards the eradication of this disease” without providing any additional information.

According to Quontrol, a laboratory in India, it examined the medications but withheld the findings from Reuters. In November, the medications were sent to Nigeria for testing, and in December 2024, they were approved.

According to Beatriz Miranda-Galarza, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against leprosy patients and their families, “while the MDT (multi-drug therapy) distribution system appears well-structured on paper, in practice, it faces significant structural and political challenges,” as reported by Reuters.

Furthermore, Sunday Udoh, the leader of the nonprofit organization Leprosy Mission Nigeria, stated: “This is the first time we are seeing this kind of very strange, very painful situation where leprosy patients who belong to the poorest of the poor are not able to access this life-saving medication.”