On the last Sunday of January, World Leprosy Day is celebrated, whose objective is to raise awareness in society about this disease and reduce the stigma suffered by people who suffer from it.
In 1991, the World Health Organization scheduled the elimination of leprosy by the year 2000, and although that goal was not met, much progress was made thanks to the joint efforts of various institutions and the free distribution of medication.
It is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium that affects the skin and peripheral nerves, the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and the eyes. Its average incubation time is five years, although symptoms can take up to twenty years to appear.
It is not a recent pathology, it is known as the biblical evil, because its presence is documented in the texts of the old and new testaments, and it was only in the 19th century that it began to be studied in depth until Hansen’s bacillus was discovered, which is what causes it.
What are the weapons that we can wield against leprosy? The first of all and the most effective is information, because a vaccine has not yet been found. The information tells us that it is a preventable pathology, that it is not hereditary, that it is curable when it can be easily detected with a timely consultation with the dermatologist for any type of skin blemish that presents insensitivity.
It is contagious when there is prolonged contact with an untreated patient and when the person in contact presents a certain level of predisposition to the disease.
The most painful thing about leprosy, apart from the tremendous and lacerating sores that flood the body of the patient, is the discrimination and the stigma; there are countries where leper children are not allowed to attend school and adults are relegated or locked up in leper colonies.
Preventing leprosy, becoming aware of the danger it represents and fighting the stigma is everyone’s task. Let’s not let her go.
