Targeting Leprosy and Prejudice

By Anthony Thanasayan (ant@pc.jaring.my)

An international campaign to fight prejudice and reduce the number of leprosy cases was introduced on World Leprosy Day on Jan 30.

This is the disease's painful reality: it affects nearly three million people. And millions more will carry its scars for the rest of their lives, according to a report broadcast on BBC World Service radio on the same day.

Leprosy is one of the oldest recorded diseases and is caused by bacteria similar to that which causes tuberculosis; it attacks the nervous system before causing sensory loss. Today, it is completely curable with a combination of drugs.

However, according to campaign organisers, leprosy has a potent symbolism about it, with those affected often being shunned by society and hiding their condition rather than seeking treatment. Historically, the disease has been associated, in India particularly, with "untouchability." Mahatma Gandhi famously sought to reverse the image.

Today, more than ever, there is an urgent need to educate people about this disease that is a serious public health threat in 24 countries, including Brazil, Madagascar, Angola and Nepal; countries that have yet to eradicate the disease include Indonesia, Burma, Mozambique, and Ethiopia.

India has more than 60% of the world's leprosy population: the country records is more than 500,000 new cases a year.
 

Campaign launched in India

Such figures is one reason a publicity campaign - described as the world's biggest media campaign against leprosy - was launched in New Delhi, India, on Jan 30.

India's campaign is part of the international effort that was launched in November by the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP) and the World Health Organisation.

The Global Alliance for the Elimination of Leprosy brings together governments, drug companies and health agencies. Over the next six years, it aims to reduce the number of new cases in countries where leprosy is endemic to one or less per 10,000 of population, and to find and cure the world's remaining leprosy patients.

Prof Cairns Smith, ILEP medical adviser, speaking during the World Service broadcast about the campaign, pointed out: "Most of these cases tend to come from areas that are poorer, that are less advantaged in terms of social and economic circumstances, and that perhaps also have the weakest healthcare infrastructure."

Angelo Simonazzi, ILEP secretary-general who also spoke during the broadcast, said one challenge is to convince people who may be infected to seek treatment.

"If you think you've got leprosy, you're not going to the clinic, because you fear that somebody - the doctor or the health worker - will tell you you've got leprosy and you will be stigmatised by your family or the community," he said.

That's why, he said, "we need to educate and publicise the facts about leprosy, that it is a curable disease, that it is not so easy transmit and, therefore, there should be no exclusion of people affected by leprosy."

India's target

India has set its own target for reducing its per capita leprosy figure at 2003, two years ahead of the global target. It aims to achieve the goal with an aggressive new strategy that uses radio and TV advertising spots designed to challenge the continuing myths about leprosy and the stigma surrounding it.

To help catch the public's imagination, the ads involve personalities such as the cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, as well as ordinary people like a badminton player, a computer operator and a housewife who have all had and been cured of leprosy.

The states being particularly targeted are Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.