The Director of the National Center for Disease Control, Dr Badr al-Din Al-Najar, said that the leishmaniasis disease is due to increase during the months of January and February, to reach thousands of cases, after the halting of the treatment program due to the lack of potential.

Dr Al-Najar warned in a statement on the centre's Facebook page of the danger of leishmaniasis.

“The threat of leishmaniasis lies in the nature of this disease, where it is a chronic disease that requires long period treatment, which extends to seven months and up to two years, if not treated with antiretroviral therapy,” Dr Najar clarified.

He further explained that the incubation period of the disease is usually from 8 to 10 months and symptoms such as dark pustules and pain begin to appear after a year.

Al-Najjar called on the World Health Organization to provide the necessary medicine, in order to eliminate the disease in the coming period, expressing his regret at the lack of interest of the authorities to address this issue.

The centre appealed to international organizations and the WHO, which pledged to provide 1,000 syringes, expected to arrive after two weeks, Dr Najar revealed.