Early Detection is the Solution for Hansen ’ s Disease

Faustino Pinto, national coordinator of the Movement for the Reintegration of People Affected by Hanseniasis (Morhan)By Mario OsavaBRASILIA, Jul 15 2019 (IPS) On Jun. 27, Faustino Pinto was in Geneva, Switzerland, where he spoke to people at the United Nations about the fight against Hansen’s Disease and the stigma surrounding it, at a meeting during the 41st session of the Human Rights Council. Eleven days later, in Brasilia, he discussed the question with President Jair Bolsonaro, when he took part in a meeting along with Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation and World Health Organisation goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, who visited Brazil Jul. 1-10. Pinto was able to present his views, as national coordinator of the Movement for the Reintegration of People Affected by Hanseniasis (Morhan), in all the meetings Sasakawa held with ministers, legislators and health and human rights officials in the Brazilian capital.     The aim was to intensify action at a national level to eliminate the infectious disease as well as the discrimination suffered by current and former patients. Abolishing the term leprosy to refer to the disease caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacillus is a central focus of Pinto, who sees it as necessary given the burden of prejudice that the word has accumulated over centuries, which is even reflected in sections of the Bible. Another great difficulty, he said, is the lack of knowledge about the disease among the ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Civil Society Health Human Rights Latin America & the Caribbean Multimedia Video Hansen's disease leprosy Yohei Sasakawa Source Type: news