By Aveseh Asough

Buruli Ulcer is one of several diseases which is barely known because its devastation is not as global as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. In Africa,  because of ignorance around such diseases , people believe they are caused by witchcraft.

To create awareness around the issue, the Unites Nations decided in 1994 to group these diseases into what is now termed Neglected Tropical Diseases. Although they are relatively unknown, these diseases affect over one billion people, mostly in tropical Africa.
 

Symptom of poverty

Those most affected are the poorest populations often living in remote, rural areas, urban slums or in conflict zones. NTDs have a low profile and status in public health priorities.
 

Most of them are spread by insects ranging from mosquitoes, black flies, and snails to sand flies, tsetse flies, the "assassin bug", and so-called flies of filth.
 

Infections are caused by unsafe water, poor housing conditions and poor sanitation. Children are the most vulnerable to these diseases, which kill, impair or permanently disable millions of people every year, often resulting in life-long physical pain and social stigmatisation.
 

Buruli Ulcer affects people mainly in rural areas,  in particular those living in swampy areas.
 

The disease starts like a little blister on the skin and develops into a large wound and later affects mostly the arms and the legs. While surgery is known to be the most effective way of treating the disease, other ways include physiotherapy. This is because the disease causes stiffness to the limbs if the wound is at the joints. It can cause death if not detected early.
 

Witchcraft
Despite recent attention  given to this disease through the UN campaign, there is still a lot to be done to combat ignorance around it.
 

In the Iyala community for example in Cross River State of Nigeria,  people believe that  Buruli Ulcer is caused by witchcraft. Consequently people tend to think that the disease cannot be cured by accepted medical practices.
 

Doctor Alphonsis Chukwuka is the Medical Director and Buruli Ulcer expert at the St Benedict's Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Rehabilitation Hospital in Ogoja, in the Cross River State, Nigeria. He says that traditional beliefs in Nigeria make it difficult to control the disease.
 

Another reason has to do with the Nigerian health system itself, the doctor says.  People from the rural areas who are the most affected by this disease are helpless because they do not have easy access to hospitals.
 

"Primary health care in Nigeria is almost dead because the Local governments are overwhelmed with taking care of schools and so many other things and they don't have time for the health sector, " he says.
 

Aid organizations, NGOs, private companies and research facilities all over the world are currently working together to find cures, distribute existing resources, raise awareness and educate those at risk for NTDs.

The WHO list of NTDs includes 14 conditions. You can click here if you want to know more about these diseases - such as African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and Buruli ulcer.