Many people believe that leprosy is a disease that was eradicated many years ago. But the reality is quite different as the world observed January 31 as the World Leprosy Day. There is renewed sense of urgency to keep on tackling this forgotten disease as in 2014 alone, 213,899 people were diagnosed with leprosy and it is estimated that there are millions more with the disease yet to be diagnosed. If it is left untreated, it can lead to disability and blindness.
One of the reasons so many cases go undetected is because of the lack of knowledge surrounding the condition. There are many myths and false assumptions associated with the disease which have contributed to a stigma. This is another reason many cases go undetected as often people are too scared to admit they have it for fear of being ostracised by community, something which has been common practice in countries like India, Mozambique and Bangladesh.
If there are indeed millions left undiagnosed, this would challenge the World Health Organisation’s declaration made in the year 2000 which stated that the disease was no longer a public health problem. They based this statement on the fact that the number of reported cases had fallen to less than one case in every 10,000 people.
Since the declaration, funding for leprosy work has fallen. Sarah Nancollas, chief executive of international charity Lepra, says this has led to the missing millions being left undiagnosed. “We believe that there are millions of people with experience of leprosy worldwide, far more than the official numbers indicate. This is because of a lack of knowledge about the disease but also the stigma associated with leprosy that often prevents people from coming forward for treatment despite the fact it is a totally curable illness.”
One way of preventing an increase in the number of cases is to detect them earlier. Educating people on the disease in areas that are particularly affected means they are likely to spot the symptoms at an earlier stage. This decreases the chance of a permanent disability as well as the chance of spreading infection, says Nancollas whose charity is working hard to do just that.
Aside from the health benefits, there are also other advantages to early detection. People, who show the physical signs of leprosy are often excluded from their community, cast out by their families and may then struggle to find work. This can often push individuals and families deeper into poverty. This could be prevented if leprosy was detected earlier and treated before any further physical signs emerged.
“It’s important that we don’t slow down our efforts for people whose lives are affected by leprosy and other tropical diseases because, not only do they impact a person’s health, but also their ability to work and feed their families which can push them further into poverty.
Women in particular face discrimination as they are often left unable to marry or, if married, are abused, abandoned or unable to undergo treatment as it means spending time away from the home. This is reflected in WHO figures which show that women only make up 36% of 2014’s new cases.
Through earlier detection, some of these cases of social exclusion could be avoided. This is why work in the area of neglected tropical diseases, including leprosy, should not slow down as it has been doing, but instead should accelerate in order to find those missing millions.
