Asian Voice readers are urged to join a campaign to combat the effects of a neglected disease which affects some of the world’s poorest people and causes disability. Lepra, a 90-year-old charity whose patron is Her Majesty the Queen, works in Bangladesh and India. They want everyone to sign a pledge to “Beat Leprosy” (http://www.lepra.org.uk/beat-leprosy).
Nearly 216,000 people worldwide were newly diagnosed last year. Sixty per cent of those people live in India or Bangladesh and nearly ten per cent of them are children. There are millions more people who do not yet know that they have this disease because they are afraid to come forward.
“We will not allow leprosy and those affected by it to be forgotten. Some of the poorest people are driven further into poverty by the effects of leprosy. We need to ensure that detection and diagnosis happen as early as possible, to prevent disability so that people affected by the disease can live a full life. Expanding our community surveys to find new cases and increasing our outreach clinics and health education programmes could make a huge difference.” Sarah Nancollas, Chief Executive
The charity is spearheading three steps which can make a difference now: early detection, removing the stigma surrounding the disease and dealing with the disabilities. Last year, Lepra helped 1.2 million people directly and reached another 1.2 million through health awareness and outreach activities. Through health education in remote villages and schools, prejudice against people affected by leprosy will be reduced and they will seek help in time to avoid disability.
Afaroz was cured of leprosy but was alarmed when he noticed a pale patch of skin on his five-year-old son’s arm. He took Aadil to Lepra’s centre for a test. After a children’s dose of multi-drug therapy, Aadil was cured and now has only a few scars on his body. His three-year-old brother Sohail is now monitored and will receive the free treatment if patches or other symptoms appear. These children are amongst the lucky ones. Many more are not found until the disease has caused permanent, visible damage and disability and they feel the sting of stigma and isolation from their community.