Bekasi, West Java, July 23 -- Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin visited several leprosy patients during a working visit to Serang Baru sub-district, Bekasi, West Java, to review efforts to control and prevent the infectious disease.

"Leprosy is contagious. (However) It is not easily transmitted, and it is highly curable," the minister said on Wednesday.

Sadikin noted that interventions are being carried out in several areas with high leprosy rates, such as Pamekasan, Brebes, and Bekasi district, that include administering medication for both treatment and prevention.

"There is only one strategy to treat this disease: find as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, along with the provision of medication to handle the case qui...