VIDEO: “ People Affected by Leprosy Suffer Severe Discrimination ”

By Fabiana FrayssinetRÍO DE JANEIRO, Mar 15 2019 (IPS) “More than 50 countries in the world have discriminatory laws against people affected by Hansen’s disease. There is also a lot of discrimination in the public administration…and in society,” Alice Cruz, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, said in this interview with IPS (in Spanish, with English subtitles). The Portuguese-born expert is one of the special participants in the First Latin American and Caribbean Assembly of Organisations of People Affected by Hansen’s Disease – another name for leprosy – taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Mar. 12-14.     Among the many examples of violations of the rights of those affected by the disease, Cruz cited the case of children who are expelled from school. “People lose their jobs, there is discrimination in the community, they aren’t allowed to enter places of worship, etc, and there is discrimination in the family too,” added the Special Rapporteur in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Cruz pointed out that in 2010, the United Nations adopted “a human rights instrument to guarantee the rights of people affected by Hansen’s disease.” According to this document, entitled “Draft principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by lepros...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Active Citizens Development & Aid Health Latin America & the Caribbean Multimedia TerraViva United Nations Video Hansen's disease leprosy Source Type: news