While authorities boast of control and prevention, reality hits hard: leprosy remains present in Quintana Roo, and new cases have been detected, primarily in Cancún, health officials confirmed. A disease many believed eradicated continues to circulate, highlighting serious shortcomings in epidemiological surveillance and timely detection.
Public hospitals have had to activate care, monitoring, and treatment protocols to contain infections and prevent complications, revealing that the problem is neither isolated nor minor. The response comes too late, after cases have already been confirmed and public concern is growing.
Specialists warn that leprosy is curable, but only if detected early. The risk increases when warning signs—skin lesions, loss of sensation, numbness—are ignored or minimized by a system that fails to inform, prevent, and act decisively.
The question is unavoidable: how many more cases go undiagnosed? How many people are living with the disease without knowing it? In a state that relies on tourism and its international image, the presence of leprosy is not just a public health issue; it’s a scandal that demands immediate answers and real action, not lukewarm statements.
Leprosy is not a thing of the past. It’s here. And so is the silence.
Source: mexicodailypost
