Warns, the leprosy spread in India

Six years after leprosy officially eliminated in India, explains became officials and doctors warn that spreads the disfiguring disease in poor pockets of the country.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) in India, NATA Menabde, told AFP in an interview that almost one-third of the Indian districts urgent attention needed, to address the spread of new infections.

"There are 209 of 640 the number of new cases exceeds the WHO target of less than 10 new cases per 100,000," she said.

"India is the largest share of the global disease burden of 120 000 new cases per year," she added.

Leprosy, an old disease, which causes lesions on the skin and attacks nerves in the hands and feet, which became a disability, in 2005, according to WHO guidelines on prevalence rates officially eliminated in India explains.

WHO can Governments to explain that leprosy is no longer a public health hazard is reduced the prevalence rate among one case per 10,000 people.

Ten percent of new cases in India are children, said WHO the Menabde.

"The high incidence of children shows that the transfer rate is very high," she said, call it an early warning for the Government.

"it suggests, that can progress against leprosy can also reverse and it grow and India may also lose its position as the disease have eliminated," she said.

Vivek Pai, Director of not-for profit Bombay leprosy project, said that a sense of complacency had crept after 2005 in government policy in the direction of leprosy.

"Changed tracks too soon took their focus and now we are seeing an increase in the cases in certain pockets," he said, citing the case of Maharashtra, India's richest State and home to the national financial center of Mumbai.

"Only a few months back, which Central Leprosy Division found that the number of new cases in Maharashtra from 9-10 per 100,000 2006-07 has now risen 13 per 100,000." It is very worrying is, "he told AFP."

He said that the decline in the funding of public and private donors hurt efforts to combat the disease.

"Don't think agencies who supported us, that it is no longer important." It is a big problem. We do not turn away patients, but we are forced treatment delayed due to funding constraints, "he said."

Pai said that leprosy which most victims come from a low socio-economic background and fear they will be stigmatized by their community when news of her illness is public.

"Many people, with new infections to us come life in busy places such as Dharavi, a huge slum in Mumbai." Hygiene, overcrowding, poverty, all for the environment, which the leprosy thrive contribute ", he said."

"Then there is the stigma around the disease, which is one of the reasons people hesitate to submit and sign, if they have symptoms."

Yohei Sasakawa, who said WHO Goodwill Ambassador for leprosy elimination since 2001, that India had to do more, to the discrimination against leprosy patients handle.

"What we need to do is awareness that it is a medical and social challenge now." There are many invisible customs, those which we must fight, "he told AFP."

"The numerical target was reached in 2005 a great success for India, but it is only a medium-term objective." We do not the battle still won, "he said."

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Radiation polluted beef spread out over that Japan's markets

Max Hodges for the New York Times

Some ranchers in Fukushima Prefecture say that they had received no guidelines of radiation leaks for the precautions of government officials in the course.

MINAMISOMA, Japan - had also shaken the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station after the explosions, said Kuniaki SATO, who rears cattle here about 20 miles of the crippled complex, receiving no clear warning from the Government about the dangers of radiation to his flock.

So he delivered six weeks after the accident on 23 April 12 his valuable cattle from his farm to the market.

Now Japanese agricultural officials say that meat from more than 500 cattle, expected to be contaminated with radioactive caesium had his way, supermarkets and restaurants very Japan has made in recent weeks. Officials say that Hay ate cattle, which had been stored outside and exposed to radiation.

"I was a little worried, but we had to sell, if we could," said Mr SATO, whose Vieh Hay not recovered and were probably were not contaminated.

If a careful all farm was lifted shipments to stop soon after the accident, range took farmers it as green light character, he said. "We all resumed shipments," he said. "Of course we have."

The revelations by the Government this month, which reached contaminated meat Japanese markets have stepped up food security concerns in Japan, underlines the Government inability to control the spread of radioactive material in the nation food .In a number of products, including spinach, tea leaves, milk and fish radioactive material was found. Contaminated Hay was found more than 85 miles of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant farm, which suggests that the radioactive fallout has reached a larger area than first anticipated.

Still, because of a serious lack of testing equipment, and local governments, which flooded with disaster relief are only a small percentage of farm products in the region grown checked for radiation.

The Government made exposed to agricultural programmes within a radius of 12 miles around the Fukushima plant, as well as a number of other identified radiation "hot spots". But companies outside these areas, even the relatively close at work, have some limitations in the delivery of their production.

Produce for months the Government shied away from, a larger ban on placing on the market from the region of Fukushima, despite sporadic discoveries contaminated products, bring out of fear of a fresh confusion in the field of disaster affected thousands more people are unemployed and compensation for Tokyo electric power, operates the Fukushima plant growing needs Add.

Now, with the number of contamination cases rises, the Government finally moves to ban beef shipments from the Prefecture Fukushima, an area of 5,300 square miles, slightly smaller than Connecticut. Yukio Edano, the Chief Cabinet Secretary said Tuesday that the Government in which such a ban to coordinate and advertisement "Final phase was" could come later in the day.

Fukushima Prefecture has also said, it issued statements late March, that warning farmers to ensure that inside Hay was stored, to prevent possible contamination of rain. But many farmers said that they were not such a policy-aware.

Areas in high radiation readings, also here in Minamisoma, a city in Fukushima, who had to radiation on the surface of your skin before checked on the market has been. But those checks insufficiently whether cattle radiation internally feed made available through consumption of contaminated, officials say measure.

Fukushima said Government officials, that they began inspections of all 4,000 or so beef in the Prefecture, to ensure that any of them radioactive Hay was used. Meanwhile prompting ranchers that correspond to a new voluntary shipping ban.

This month recognized test officials radioactive caesium Hay fed to cattle on a ranch in Minamisoma 250 times on official border and Japan. Beef from the farm include almost five times the official border.

Officials suspect that the Hay was stored outside and with rain water, which can carry radioactive elements in the atmosphere, as it falls was corrupted. Although Hay cattle here, is not usually fed a feed supply deficiency after 11 March earthquake and tsunami some farms forced to replace it for other foods.

Some farmers in the region say that they welcome tighter controls and livestock from Fukushima can be delivered, if precautions against radiation exposure.

Max Hodges research contributed.

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