There are as many ways to mark World Leprosy Day as the imagination and creativity of those who plan the celebrations.  

American Leprosy Missions encouraged congregations to help raise awareness about leprosy. As their President, Mr Christopher Doyle said, “If we are ever going to eradicate leprosy, we must increase awareness”. The lack of awareness about leprosy presents a daily challenge to those affected by this disease.  

FAIRMED Health for the Poorest asked why, despite the efforts undertaken by relief agencies like itself, it still seems impossible to eradicate leprosy. Numbers of cases of leprosy dropped regularly during the 1990s and the first years of the new millennium. But for a number of years now the figures have stagnated, and the number of new cases is not declining. This organisation noted that these figures do not include unreported active cases of leprosy.

In Paris a musical Vol Air Follereau – Destination Agapé was staged to inspire support for the Fondation Raoul Follereau. It told the tale of an arrogant university student who finds herself transported, despite her protests, by a guardian angel figure on a voyage of discovery of the spiritual heritage of Raoul Follereau, the father figure of FRF. Her interior conflict between the attractions of superficial pleasures and charitable actions emulating those of Raoul Follereau is revealed, as is the path she chooses.

Thousands of enthusiastic volunteers sold over 510,000 packets of pens in support of the work of Damien Foundation Belgium, whose World Leprosy Day campaign this year focussed on the assistance they provide for people affected by leprosy in Bangladesh. They highlighted the courage individuals affected by leprosy there draw from a certain “inner strength” they get from Damien Foundation Belgium.

A symposium was organised by Netherlands Leprosy Relief in Amsterdam on the theme: Beyond Disability – A Worthy Future After Leprosy. Le Duc Loi, a prosthesis maker in Vietnam was recognised publicly for the prostheses he provided for people affected by leprosy at a time when others refused to do so as they feared the stigma of leprosy. Unfortunately, due to his health and age, he was not able to be there in person to receive the Change A Life Award.  Lydia La Rivière-Zijdel, a Dutch woman living with impairment, spoke about the visible barriers created by impairment, but how one can, nevertheless, turn around one’s life. Some other successful individuals, living with impairment, shared some of their experiences. Someone who had been cured of leprosy, who is living in The Netherlands, spoke about the additional challenges he had had to face as a result of having had leprosy – such as losing both his wife and his job.

LEPRA Health in Action held a Bollywood party in Colchester to raise awareness of their work and to highlight World Leprosy Day. Guests included the Grewal family, who have been participating in a documentary about family life on the UK’s Channel 4. LEPRA India, based in Hyderabad, organised a two-kilometre walk to fight leprosy, flagged off by the actor Rana Daggubati. Among the other 450 participants were the local politicians Janardhan Reddy and Christine Lazarus, and the Secretary of Health J Satyanarayana. J Satyanarayana released a leaflet of facts about leprosy. Participants carried various placards with slogans disseminating awareness about leprosy and removing misconceptions about this disease.

The Deutsche Lepra- und Tuberkulosehilfe demanded more vociferous calls for research into developing a vaccine against leprosy in their World Leprosy Day press release. Dr Adolf Diefenhardt, their leading Medical Advisor, indicated that until a recent discovery it had not been clear why around 90% of people worldwide are immune to leprosy. He described the discovery by scientists in Singapore and China of seven genes that increase susceptibility to leprosy* as offering a unique opportunity to find an effective vaccine that can protect people at risk of contracting leprosy. Up until now, however, research into leprosy has been funded almost exclusively by leprosy relief associations. Dr Diefenhardt spoke of the need for research institutes and universities to become involved, together with public money. He said: “The results show that we should not give up the wish to see a disease overcome, which causes several hundred thousand new cases a year and from which approximately four million people are facing serious life consequences.“

Mr Roland Müller, the Representative of DAHW, reported on activities in the week leading up to World Leprosy Day in the United Republic of Tanzania. Articles were published in newspapers; there were interviews on television, a car broadcasting information and some screening of pupils for leprosy in schools. Mr Müller gave a talk about the leprosy situation in that country. Since Tanzania is one of seventeen countries in the world with over 1,000 new cases of leprosy a year (3,276 new cases were recorded in 2008) he explained that DAHW, the Government and health workers are working as hard as ever to control leprosy. Even though DAHW may have had to reduce its commitment to the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programme, it is continuing to fund high quality and effective activities and collaborate as it always has. Mr Müller highlighted the humanitarian issues and rights of people affected by leprosy and gave their absolute assurance of equity and social justice for these individuals at a time when the Government of Tanzania is tabling a new bill on equal rights for people with disabilities.

These descriptions offer just a small insight into the many events and activities that marked World Leprosy Day 2010 and recognise that it is not possible to represent them all in one article.

 

* See: http://www.ilep.org.uk/news-events/article/view/genes-that-increase-susceptibility-to-leprosy-discovered/396/

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Members, News and Notes, United Republic of Tanzania