The Ministry of Health announced, on Saturday, the detection of a single case of leprosy at the Tit Mellil psychiatric hospital, confirmed by the National Leprosy Centre of Casablanca-Aïn-Chok where the patient concerned received the necessary treatment on September 5, 2014. The Ministry of Health explains, in a statement received by the MAP, that following the publication of an article in the columns of a national newspaper stating the detection of six cases of leprosy at the Tit Mellil psychiatric hospital, investigations were carried out and six people were transferred to the National Leprosy Centre of Casablanca-Aïn-Chok, specifying that the clinical diagnosis demonstrated that they were not affected by this disease.

The ministry recalled that Morocco has been able to eradicate this disease and that only a few rare cases are recorded each year among the poor segments of the population from isolated rural regions. Thanks to the efforts made for decades, this disease is no longer a public health problem in Morocco, knowing that the number of medically monitored cases has gone from 1,036 at the end of 1991 to 37 cases at the end of 2013.

The statement stresses that the fight against leprosy constitutes a priority for the Ministry of Health, despite a low rate of spread of this disease, through a decentralised fight mechanism integrated into the basic health network. The Casablanca-Aïn-Chok Centre, considered the national reference establishment in terms of the fight against this disease, has qualified staff, consisting of 3 dermatologists and 13 technical and nursing staff.