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Every two minutes someone is diagnosed with Leprosy?
TLM diagnosed 49,076 new cases of leprosy in 2006
TLM serves a population of 305 million people across 202 projects in 28 countries
A total of 60,408 people and 3,700 households benefited from socio-economic rehabilitation (SER) and welfare
44,587 surgical operations were performed
TLM has over 2,000 national and international staff
A total of 881,014 people were treated as outpatients in TLM hospitals
TLM's global income in 2005 was £12m (£12,929,131)
Poverty, lack of education and leprosy are closely linked, many people who have had leprosy are left disabled
Education, access to health care and early diagnosis could mean patients are left without disabilities
·Disability both causes and is a consequence of poverty.
·In India, about 1.1 million are disabled because of leprosy
·In Indonesia there are 20, 000 new cases of leprosy a year.
Leprosy Mission works to raise awareness of the rights and benefits available to people with disabilities and focuses upon leprosy control and socio-economic rehabilitation.
U.N. Human Rights Commission
On 11 August 2005, at its 57th annual meeting, the United Nations Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights passed a resolution concerning the human rights of those who have been affected by leprosy.
An excerpt states:
“tens of millions of people suffer not only from leprosy as a disease which is scientifically and medically proven to be curable and manageable, but also from political, legal, economic or social discrimination and isolation as a result of misunderstanding and indifference, and lack of legislative or administrative measures to prohibit such discrimination and to protect and remedy the victims.”
Let us welcome their resolution to prepare a comprehensive study on discrimination against leprosy victims and their families and their strong request to Governments to act to remedy this through appropriate legislation, education, and anti-discrimination measures.
WHO, TLM and others are undertaking research projects to accurately assess the true burden of leprosy and to validate current leprosy statistics and data, especially in India.
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