In December Dr Nnally and his team visited Nambunju Village. 46 people were screened for leprosy and five of these were subsequently diagnosed with leprosy and commenced on treatment.
Although leprosy is considered to be eradicated in some parts of Tanzania, a government press release in January noted that 1439 new cases were identified in Tanzania in 2025. Around 15 cases of leprosy were identified in the Ruifji area. The long incubation period of leprosy (up to twenty years) makes it very difficult to to say whether leprosy has indeed been eradicated from an area. However, it is encouraging that far fewer cases are being identified compared with thirty years ago, see our later article.
