In fact, the RLCC mission started a long time before the official announcement. It started as a dream that eventually became a reality and a testament to the power of collaboration. Now, it has the main office is in Sana’a (the Capital city), a branch office is in Radaa (central region), and many projected regional center in the most endemic areas of the country.
The main office currently hosts more
than 100 volunteers and includes essential needs to operate, executive offices,
laboratory, drug store, and education and meetings room.
The RLCC is directed by its founder,
Dr. Mohamed A. Al-Kamel, and managed by the RLCC Board of Trustee, financial
and technical administrators, and has a wide networked of volunteers and rural
community health workers who cover most the endemic districts of the
Republic. Day by day, RLCC volunteers' network does grow rapidly.
RLCC aims to serve the community and
help needy people provide them with all available surveillance, research,
educational, diagnostic and treatment services.
Within short period since its
foundation, the RLCC has played the main role in community education through
all available means, including mass media, hand brochures, posters and remote
field campaigns. Hundreds of needy patients received our free examination,
diagnosis and medicine, and tens of regular endemic remote field campaigns had
been conducted.
In April 2013, the RLCC launched its
first, biggest and most effective movement against leishmaniasis in the history
of leishmaniasis disease in Yemen through “Eradication of Leishmaniasis from
Yemen Project (ELYP)” with six programs.
Eradication of Leishmaniasis form Yemen
Project
(ELYP)
Eradication of leishmaniasis from Yemen
(ELYP) is the main project of the Regional Leishmaniasis Control Center (RLCC),
Yemen. It aims to help needy patients and provide the community with all
surveillance, research, educational, examination, diagnostic, treatment and
control services.
The overall aim of Eradication of
Leishmaniasis from Yemen Project (ELYP) is to address, reduce and eventually
eradicate leishmaniasis in Yemen.
ELYP Objectives
1. Development
2. Surveillance
3. Diagnosis and Treatment
4. Control
5. Research
ELYP Strategies
Eradication of Leishmaniasis from Yemen
Project (ELYP) strategies have been built on the following six programs:
1. Developing Program
2. Community Education
Program
3. Surveillance Program
4. Medicine-For-All Program
5. Vector-Reservoir Control
Program
6. Research Program
RLCC Alarming Announcements
During 2013, the RLCC identified
significant endemicity of all forms of leishmaniasis disease in Yemen, and
estimated the prevalence of leishmaniasis in Yemen as more than 180,000
patients, with an annual incidence of more than 20,000 cases.
RLCC founded villages with all
inhabitants’ and families with all members’ infection with leishmaniasis.
A recent RLCC’s study conducted by
Al-Kamel M.A. showed that mucocutaneous leishmaniasis is the most prevalent
form (49%) especially between children and infants, and 90% of all infected
patients are women and children below the age of 17 years, particularly in
rural areas.
Another study conducted at the RLCC by
the same author concluded that leishmaniasis is the most prevalent skin
infectious disease in Rural Yemen.
Patients ignore the nature of disease,
and some of them have been treated blindly with hazardous popular regiments.
Yemeni visceral leishmaniasis patients
(3%) die without a known diagnosis! Some have been diagnosed as
malignancy.
Medicine is costly, unaffordable and
most of the time is unavailable!
Infected rural families' infants,
children and women (who are the main victims of leishmaniasis) are in urgent
need for medical treatment (particularly, antimonial compounds “Pentostam
injections”).
Before The RLCC
Leishmaniasis in Yemen has not had
adequate attention and most doctors and even dermatologists were not
well-oriented as to the nature and prevalence of leishmaniasis disease.
All patients were not aware of what is
it, what cause it and how to treat or avoid, and most the patients have not got
any medical care.
In rural Yemen, it was difficult to
find a doctor who can properly diagnose or treat leishmaniasis, and population
awareness of the disease was very weak.
Nowadays
The RLCC is currently searching for
cases of leishmaniasis everywhere in the country through its centers and fields
campaigns. Leishmaniasis became the focus of attention of the dermatological,
medical and non-medical communities.
Through our Medicine-For-All and
Community Education Programs, not a small sector of the local community and
patients became aware of the disease and how to deal with it.
Through Community Education Program,
leishmaniasis became a clear serious matter in many areas especially at Central
Yemen region, patients have been educated and many physicians and rural
community health workers have been taught how to identify and treat and refer
such cases.
Currently, the RLCC became the referral
center for patients referred by rural primary health care units, private and
public clinics and hospitals.
The RLCC has a steady stream of
patients who travel from all parts of the country seeking diagnosis and
treatment.
Contact Details
Website
Facebook page
Email
RLCC@RLCCye.ORG
dralkamel@hotmail.com
Address
Regional Leishmaniasis Control Center
(RLCC), Al-Fakos Building, Jawlat Taiz, P.O.Box 12692, Sana'a, Yemen.
