By Suzan Edeh

Bauchi—No fewer than 204 cases of leprosy have been recorded in Bauchi State, the State Commissioner for Health, Halima Mukaddas, has revealed.

The Commissioner, who disclosed this yesterday in Bauchi, said one of the challenges in the health sector of the state was the re-emergence of diseases that were previously eliminated, but resurfaced again in the state.

Mukaddas said: “We have been experiencing re-emergence of some diseases we thought we have eliminated, but resurfaced and one of them is leprosy. This year alone, we recorded 17 new cases of the disease.

“However, the ministry has risen to the occasion by commencing prompt treatment of the affected victims.”

Speaking on the achievement of the ministry in the area of nutrition, the commissioner said that from September 2015 to date, Bauchi State was no longer in the list of the 10 affected states with cases of severe malnutrition, but that the state still recorded 50 percent of stunting cases.

She said the state government was expanding the Community Management for Acute Malnutrition centres, CMAM, from three to 10, to meet the health needs of the people in the North-East.