1,200 lepers on record in Padang

PADANG, West Sumatra: The province has a recorded 1,200 lepers, mostly low-income, in its population of 4.2 million people, Antara reported yesterday.

Dr. Firdaus Bahauddin at the health ministry's provincial office said many people with leprosy are reluctant to seek medical treatment because of the stigma attached to the disease.

"People still see it as an incurable disease," he said.

All of the village health centers in the province have been provided with adequate personnel and medication to treat leprosy, he said. His office has also been intensifying its information drive on leprosy, Bahauddin said, adding his hope that the disease would be eradicated within four years. (swe)