Art used to fight stigma attached to leprosy: modern drugs can halt infection.ECUMENICAL NEWS INTERNATIONAL New Delhi New Delhi (dĕl`ē), city (1991 pop. 294,149), capital of India and of Delhi state, N central India, on the right bank of the Yamuna River. Combating the stigma of leprosy leprosy or Hansen's disease (hăn`sənz), chronic, mildly infectious malady capable of producing, when untreated, various deformities and disfigurements. is as important as fighting the disease, says a Christian organization in India which is trying a new form of therapy for those living with an infectious disease Infectious disease A pathological condition spread among biological species. Infectious diseases, although varied in their effects, are always associated with viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites and aberrant proteins known as prions. that has afflicted af·flict tr.v. af·flict·ed, af·flict·ing, af·flicts To inflict grievous physical or mental suffering on. [Middle English afflighten, from afflight, humankind for millennia. "Leprosy-affected people are often treated as useless people to be banished from the society," said Harold Williams
Dr. Harold Williams, M.Sc, Ph.D, FRSC (born March 14, 1934) is one of the premier field geologists in the history of geology and the foremost expert on the , communications officer of The Leprosy Mission (TLM TLM Telemetry TLM Transaction Level Modeling TLM Tout Le Monde (French) TLM The Leprosy Mission (Northern Ireland) TLM Transmission Line Matrix TLM The Little Mermaid (fairy tale) ) India. However, a pilot art workshop held here for people with leprosy and their families has demonstrated that people living with leprosy "can be as creative as others," Mr. Williams said. The mission hopes to replicate a workshop held in October as a program in its leprosy centres throughout India. With 31 hospitals and 41 leprosy centres, TLM India helps 250,000 patients a year. India accounts for 70 per cent of the world's 673,000 registered leprosy cases, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. World Health Organization (WHO) statistics for 2000. In 1999, the country detected 538,000 new cases of the disease, which is found mostly in poor. regions of the world, according to WHO. Long considered an incurable disease that made social outcasts of its sufferers, the infection today, with proper drug therapy, can be halted within a year. But in addition to health care, people with leprosy need recognition, said Dr. Daphne Wilfred, a senior specialist at the TLM India hospital in New Delhi. Even if people are fully cured of leprosy, Dr. Wilfred said, "The social stigma haunts them wherever they go. "We need to give great publicity to the creative talents of these people to convince the public that leprosy-affected people are as capable as others. Art is a good medium for this." Titled My Dream, the October workshop brought together 35 young people with leprosy and other disabilities from TLM India centers across the country to work with 10 artists from India and abroad. One participant, Geeta Sharma, 16, had dropped out of school in eastern Bihar state at the age of 14 after being diagnosed with leprosy. "Even those at home believe that the leprosy-affected can do nothing," said Sharma, who had only "reluctantly" agreed to attend the art workshop. She has been undergoing treatment in preparation for reconstructive surgery reconstructive surgery n. Plastic surgery. reconstructive surgery, n surgery to rebuild a structure for functional or esthetic reasons. on her deformed right hand. "We need encouragement and recognition," Sharma said. The Leprosy Mission operates in more than 30 countries. |
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