A STORY OF HOPE FROM MOZAMBIQUE FOR WORLD LEPROSY DAY 2012
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6 January 2012
A story of hope from Mozambique for World Leprosy Day 2012
'But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!'
1 Corinthians 15:51 NLT
On Sunday 29 January 2012 The Leprosy Mission England & Wales joins with over 100 countries on World Leprosy Day to raise awareness of leprosy, its causes and consequences. Our country of focus is Mozambique and our theme is transformation.
Aurora is a very special little girl. She lives with her parents, Ernesto and Fatema, in the Northern Province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. The area has a population of about 1.6 million and has one of the highest prevalences of leprosy in Africa.
It was leprosy that brought Ernesto and Fatema together. They met at the ALEMO1 self-care group in Cabo Delgado where Ernesto now has a job operating milling equipment and has also joined a Government run school for adults. He had previously never attended school and was illiterate but is now in the second year of a three year literacy programme. He wants to train to be a teacher. Ernesto and Fatema had both been diagnosed with leprosy and needed help and advice about a disease that they knew very little about. The stigma of leprosy is so severe that people often hide the symptoms or cannot access treatment quickly. This curable disease often remains undiagnosed until it is too late, leading to severe disabilities including blindness and loss of sensation to limbs.
The Leprosy Mission England & Wales identified that the local health network in Cabo Delgado was struggling to deliver leprosy services to outlying areas where leprosy was spreading2. The solution has been twofold: to implement self-care education and self-help groups. The Leprosy Mission works with and through local Government health posts in Mozambique to reach people affected by leprosy in the most remote areas. In 2010, 100 Government health units received supervision and support from The Leprosy Mission.
Self-care
Self-care is taught to help prevent further disabilities. If detected early enough, leprosy is curable by taking multidrug therapy3. Sensation tests carried out on patches of discoloured skin can determine if the disease has damaged the nerves leading to loss of feeling.
With treatment the disease is halted and further disabilities prevented if self-care techniques are followed, particularly where skin has been so damaged that it ulcerates repeatedly. Without the work of The Leprosy Mission, many people would remain undiagnosed and untreated, leaving them vulnerable to developing leprosy-related disabilities that cannot be reversed4.
Sadly, there are many people who do not receive the complete course of treatment early enough, either because of lack of knowledge about the symptoms - from individuals and local medical personnel - or an inability to access medical help due to displacement through war5. This has left many people with permanent and progressive disabilities caused by sensation loss, particularly in the hands and feet6.
To help people manage this and to avoid further disabilities, Leprosy Mission self-care groups teach simple but effective techniques such as soaking hands and feet in water and then rubbing with oil to keep the skin supple. This process can dramatically reduce any further disability as skin is made more resilient and less susceptible to ulcers. People affected by leprosy are also taught how to check and monitor each other for wounds. In 2010, 492 people accessed self-care training and support in this way.
Self-help
Self-help group members work together on income generation schemes, often starting with seed capital from The Leprosy Mission. In this way they are enabled to increase not only their income but also their sense of dignity and self-worth7. In 2010 a total of 971 leprosy-affected people participated in self-help activities in Mozambique.
The Leprosy Mission will continue to support this work in Mozambique and in 2012 it will also focus its activities on the countries of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, North Sudan, South Sudan and DR Congo.
1 The Association of Leprosy Affected People in Mozambique - is funded by The Leprosy Mission England & Wales to equip people affected by leprosy with the skills for self-care and development and it gives them the psychological support to enable self-advocacy.
2 According to official reports received during 2011 from 130 countries and territories, the global registered prevalence of leprosy at the beginning of 2011 stood at 192,246 cases, while the number of new cases detected during 2010 was 228,474 (excluding the small number of cases in Europe). Pockets of high endemicity still remain in some areas of Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Republic of Tanzania. These countries remain highly committed to eliminating the disease, and continue to intensify their leprosy control activities. (Source: World Health Organisation).
3 Since 1995, WHO has supplied MDT free of cost to leprosy patients in all endemic countries. The drugs used in WHO-MDT are a combination of rifampicin, clofazimine and dapsone for multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients and rifampicin and dapsone for paucibacillary (PB) leprosy patients. Among these rifampicin is the most important antileprosy drug and therefore is included in the treatment of both types of leprosy.
4 Leprosy disabilities include: muscle weakness, skin stiffness and dryness, loss of sensation to the fingers and toes, eye problems, which can lead to blindness and enlarged nerves, especially those around the elbow and knee.
5 By 1990, war, drought and economic crisis had made Mozambique the world's poorest and most aid-dependent country. While the government concentrated rural populations in accommodation camps, the rebel organisation, RENAMO, intensified its violent strategy of rural devastation, exhausting the resource base of its war effort.
6 Without sensation it is easy to damage a hand or foot, especially in remote areas where people may be walking bare foot through rough terrain or cooking on open fires.
7 People affected by leprosy have to cope with discrimination (often through legislation as well as individual prejudices) in addition to disease and disability.
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l-r. Ernesto, Aurora
& Fatima |
Members of self-care
group soaking hands
and feet |
For further information on this release contact:
Email:
press@tlmew.org.uk
Tel: 01733 370505