This summer the Board of Netherlands Leprosy Relief decided to broaden its rehabilitation policy from 2011 to include not only people who have impairments as a result of leprosy, but also persons whose impairments are due to other medical and non-medical causes.

Mr Jan van Berkel, Director of Netherlands Leprosy Relief, welcomes the extension of this support so as to avoid unwanted side effects of providing rehabilitation services only to persons affected by leprosy. These have included the negative effects of being isolated and excluded from others in society by being treated apart and the prolonging of stigma and stigmatising attitudes and behaviour towards people with leprosy. He also explained to the ILEP Secretariat that Netherlands Leprosy Relief will continue to limit its operations to countries where leprosy is endemic and persons affected by leprosy are in need of rehabilitation.

 

Prior to the Board taking this decision, external and internal stakeholders were consulted. Private donors also had the opportunity to express their opinion about extending the scope of this organisation’s strategy and aims. The majority expressed their approval for the potential beneficial effects for persons with impairments due to leprosy of integrating them within rehabilitation activities for persons with a range of differing impairments originating from a variety of causes. 

 

ILEP Member Netherlands Leprosy Relief has been providing medical, social and economic rehabilitation services for persons with impairments as a result of leprosy since 2007.

 

During 2010 approximately a fifth of Netherland Leprosy Relief’s budget is being used to provide rehabilitation services to persons affected by leprosy, mostly within community-based rehabilitation projects.

In its research activities NLR is going towards funding of a new four-year stage of a research project that began in 2010. The Stigma Assessment and Reduction of Impact (SARI) research project is being undertaken to examine the effectiveness of interventions, which have as a specific aim the lessoning of stigma.  Persons with various physical impairments from differing causes will be involved as much as possible in all aspects of this project.  

Categories: Members