Leprosy treatment & updates

[waltky]

Leprosy Can Be Wiped Out, Expert Says...

Leprosy Affects Millions But Can Be Wiped Out, Expert Says
January 14, 2016 — Millions of people live with the effects of leprosy and tens of thousands of new cases are reported every year, but the debilitating disease can be eliminated given enough resources, an organization helping to curb the disease said.

It is one of the oldest known diseases, first mentioned in written records in 600 BC, and affects the poorest and most marginalized communities. If untreated, it can lead to permanent disability. Although the number of cases has plummeted from 5.2 million in 1985 to about 210,000 a year now, it still exists in more than 100 countries. The majority of cases are found in India, Brazil and Indonesia. "The last mile is the most difficult one and the most expensive one, and one where you need most innovation and resources," said Ann Aerts, head of the Novartis Foundation.

A patient shows the effects of leprosy on his hands in Myanchaung Leprosy Hospice, Halegu township, Yangon Division​

The foundation has run leprosy programs for decades and is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the spread of the disease. "We cannot give up ... now that we are almost there," Aerts said in a telephone interview from Basel, Switzerland. The WHO has made free treatment available globally since 1995, initially through the Nippon Foundation, and since 2000 through the pharmaceutical company Novartis and the Novartis Foundation.

A woman, hands disfigured by leprosy and with no means of support, begs for food or any other offerings that can help her survive at a leper colony outside Juba, South Sudan’s capital.​

In 2000, when the number of cases fell to less than one in 10,000 people, the WHO declared leprosy was no longer a public health problem, and the political and financial commitment to curbing the disease then dropped, Aerts said. "With that we saw a drastic drop in case detection rate as well, which was definitely not linked to a decline in transmission, but most probably a decline in reporting or diagnosing of leprosy," she added.

Diagnosis can take 20 years

 

[waltky]

Former leprosy sufferers on Friday testified at a Vatican conference...

Leprosy sufferers talk about stigma of disease at Vatican
Sun, Jun 12, 2016 - Former leprosy sufferers on Friday testified at a Vatican conference about the stigma linked to the disease that still persists in some societies, and about their attempts to fight exclusion.

Although it has been eradicated almost globally through treatments developed in the 1980s, leprosy still affects 200,000 people a year, particularly in India, Indonesia and Brazil, while the stigma attached goes on long after sufferers have been cured. “At 14, I was diagnosed with leprosy. My parents loved me and to prevent me from being hurt or burned by others, they locked me in a small house,” said Yuan Yahua, born into a poor farming family in China.

Vagavathali Narsappa, an Indian who leads an association for former sufferers, was driven out by his parents and he only reunited with his sister when she learned he and his children were healthy. Japanese Natsuko Tominaga, 80, stayed at a leper colony for 60 years, despite being cured aged 18, so he could support fellow sufferers, who he considered family.

More than 200 people, including victims of the disease and researchers, took part in the congress on Thursday and Friday. “Exclusion still exists,” Follereau Foundation chief executive officer Michel Recipon said, adding that testimonies from sufferers was invaluable in changing perceptions in areas of the world still fearful of leprosy. About 20,000 sick or disabled people flocked to Rome on Friday for a series of Vatican events that wind up today with a Mass lead by Pope Francis in Saint Peter’s Square.

Leprosy sufferers talk about stigma of disease at Vatican - Taipei Times

 

[strollingbones]

hansen's disease.....hopefully like polio it can be eradicated