The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the shipment of leprosy drugs to Nigeria after a yearlong holdup, Reuters news agency reported. 

UN Special Rapporteur Beatriz Miranda-Galarza cited testing issues and systemic vulnerabilities as reasons for the delay. The drugs will reportedly arrive in Nigeria on Sunday.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, records over 1,000 leprosy cases annually. The disease, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, affects the skin, peripheral nerves and eyes. It is curable with multi-drug therapy (MDT), but without treatment patients suffer from disfiguring sores, blindness and paralysis.

''Before last year, my wounds were healing, but now they are worse,'' Awwal Musa told Reuters. Musa's fingers are clawed and legs discharge pus due to the lack of medicine.

Leprosy is present in 12 countries worldwide, with Nigeria, Brazil, India, and Indonesia among the most impacted, reporting between 1,000 to 10,000 cases annually.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis manufactures and donates leprosy drugs to the WHO. A spin-off company produces the medication in Indian facilities before sending it for additional testing in Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

India-based laboratory Quontrol, told Reuters that the drugs were submitted for testing in Nigeria in November and approved in December 2024. Nigeria's Leprosy Control did not comment on why the drugs remained delayed after approval.

Each country must request doses of leprosy drugs, which are administered over a year. According to health sources in Nigeria, the country was late in submitting its request, contributing to delay and subsequent shortage.

Edited by: Sean Sinico, Wesley Dockery