The Japanese humanitarian organisation Peshawar-kai has announced plans to resume the treatment of leprosy in Afghanistan, nearly 15 years after suspending its operations in the country.
The initiative is being relaunched in memory of Dr Tetsu Nakamura, the former head of Peshawar-kai, who was affectionately known in Afghanistan as “Kaka Murad”. Dr Nakamura, a revered figure for his decades-long humanitarian work, was killed in an armed attack in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, in 2019.
According to Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, the organisation intends to restart its medical programme later this year. The project will focus on providing medication, training healthcare personnel, and dispatching mobile medical teams to areas including Nangarhar Province.
Dr Nakamura began treating leprosy patients in Pakistan during the 1980s and later expanded his efforts into Afghanistan, where he also led major water management and irrigation projects aimed at improving agricultural livelihoods.
With the slogan “Keeping Dr Nakamura’s spirit of service alive,” Peshawar-kai aims to strengthen healthcare services in some of Afghanistan’s most underserved regions.
Despite restrictions imposed by the Taliban authorities on female participation in the health sector, the organisation hopes to recruit women doctors to help deliver treatment.
In January 2024, officials from the Nangarhar provincial administration and the Taliban-run Ministry of Public Health formally requested the organisation to restart its leprosy treatment services.
According to World Health Organisation data, only 45 cases of leprosy were officially recorded in Afghanistan in 2017. However, due to ongoing challenges in the country’s healthcare infrastructure, the true number of infections remains unclear.
