Daily routine of elephantiasis patients becoming easier with self-care training

Baniyani (Jhapa): Khirman Ganesh, 70, a resident of Jhapa Rural Municipality-5, Panthapada has been suffering from elephantiasis for the past three decades. The lower part of her knee is swelling.

After two days of self-care training, her daily routine has become a bit easier. Now, she is able to take care of her health after being trained by the ‘Bishwas’ project run by Sahara Nepal.

“It has been nearly 30 years since I caught with illness”, she said, adding, “I know how to clean my ailing feet”.

Another elephantiasis survivor Binadevi Ganesh, an inhabitant of Panthapada of Jhapa rural municipality-5, has a problem in getting up now.

She shared that her daily life has become a little easier after attending self-care training. She was provided with a ‘toilet chair’ after complaining inconvenience in reaching to the toilet.

Chief of the health section of the rural municipality Prem Neupane said proper cleaning is a must in the elephantiasis-triggered swollen part. “Proper hygiene should be maintained to prevent further deterioration of the disease-affected organs”, he said, adding, “It can help prevent high fever among the sufferers”.

Programme Officer at Karuna Foundation Ankit Pathak said assistance along with the training will be provided based on the demand of elephantiasis and leprosy patients.

He informed that as many as 387 people have been provided the self-care training since 2022. The Foundation according to him has imparted income-generation training to 123 people suffering from elephantiasis.

Support materials were handed to 155 while 48 were provided with medical aid, he shared, adding that 16 were given seed money Rs 12,000 each for business.

According to programme coordinator of Bishwas Project Pawan Rai, they have been working in 10 municipalities of Jhapa to prevent tropical diseases such as leprosy, elephantiasis, lice, dengue and chikungunya, kalajar, snakebite, rabies, and measles.

He said they were working hard to reach the target set by the government for the prevention of these diseases from the country.

“We are collaborating with the local level governments and stakeholders”, Rai shared, adding, “Efforts are underway to improve the quality of community health services through the project”.

He stressed the need for the government to provide health insurance to the poor communities to reduce their financial burden in health.