Q & A: Why Treating Leprosy as a Special Disease Violates the Rights of the Person Affected by It

Dr. Arturo Cunanan is the Medical Centre Chief of Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital in the Philippines and one of the most experienced experts on Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, in the world today. Credit: Stella Paul/IPSBy Stella PaulMAJURO, Mar 25 2019 (IPS) His multiple awards and degrees aside, Dr. Arturo Cunanan is known as a people’s doctor; one who has profound belief in the human rights of every person affected by Hansen’s disease, commonly known as leprosy. Considered one of the most experienced experts on the disease in the world today, Cunanan is currently the Medical Centre Chief of Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital in the Philippines. He is the first director of the hospital who is a direct descendant of people affected by Hansen’s disease who were isolated and segregated in Culion. The island of Culion, where the hospital is based, was originally set up as a leper colony at the turn of the 20th century, with the hospital been founded to solely treat patients with Hansen’s disease. However, from 1994, the Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital began general hospital services. Currently in the Marshall Islands, in the northern Pacific, to review the national leprosy programme for the atoll nation, Cunanan tells IPS about the importance of viewing leprosy as an ordinary disease and how the failure to do so leads to continuous stigma. “Integration of leprosy in the mainstream is important and it is also important to see that lepro...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Headlines Health Human Rights Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations leprosy Nippon Foundation Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation (SMHF) Source Type: news