Leprosy Re-emerges as a Global Health Challenge

Sattamma, a daily labourer in the Rangareddy district of southern India’s Telangana state, says that even though she no longer has Hansen’s Disease, she remains discriminated against because of it. Credit: Stella Paul/IPSBy Stella PaulHYDERABAD, India , Jan 23 2020 (IPS) Fifteen years ago, Sattamma – a daily labourer in the Rangareddy district of southern India’s Telangana state – was abandoned by her husband after she was diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease. Last October, while her neighbours were celebrating Diwali, Sattamma was homeless again as her landlord threw her out of the house after he discovered her past disease. “My husband said I was a danger to him. But it was so many years ago (I had leprosy). I have been cured and living without any scar or pain. Why would anyone still treat me like this?” asks a visibly-perplexed Sattamma who says finding work has become harder since her eviction. Discrimination against leprosy, however, isn’t experienced by a scattered few: the world over, men and women affected by leprosy are increasingly being subjected to stigma and bias regardless of their current health status. In Nigeria, Lilibeth Nwakaego runs a non-profit organisation called Leprosy Disability Initiative, which provides legal and emotional support to the leprosy-affected people who have been stigmatised by society. According to her, the roots of stigma are so deep, it often frustrates even the most determined. “As a lawyer and a woman, I can tell you...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights Latin America & the Caribbean Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Brazil Hansen's disease India Indonesia leprosy Source Type: news