Leprosy or Hanson's Disease is a scourge that will not go away easily in

third world countries and especially so in places like Burma where there

is no support from the government.

At one time (in the 70s) Burma had the distinction of having the highest

percentage of cases in relation to it's population. The community health

sector has been doing it's best through grass-root level health workers

and leprosy campaigns , which are funded by NGOs , to find new cases,

and have case control but it has always been an uphill task.

Today the scenario is nearly the same , only the funding may not be

comparable as in previous decades. There are 2 leprasoriums in Burma,

one in Mandalay for upper Burma and another in Moulmein for lower Burma.

These centres are equipped to treat not only the disease but also

rehabilitate the cases with the aid of surgery , prosthese and

occupational training so that the cases can earn a livlehood. The one in

Moulmein, established by American missionaries about 50 years ago, still

functions and in fact has improved in recent years through the hard work

of the doctors and staff in charge , but mainly because financial help

in foreign currency from NGOs is still available.The bad news is that ,

till date these centres do not have the support of the ministry of

health except for acknowledgements and opening ceremonies when tapes are

cut.This lack of political will in the campaign against this dreadful

disease will certainly hold back progress in the attempt to eradicate

leprosy in Burma. The centre in Mandalay operates independenttly and

details are not available.

There should be more done to help the plight of these people and

missionary and NGO help alone will not suffice in the long run. A more

concerted effort is required and the ministry of health should be

playing a larger role than just distributing Dapsone through health

workers ,sporadically.

I report this ,in the inetrest of the victims as it is a cause which few

understand and are aware of and fewer still are willing to help.

Cabaret

cabaret96@hotmail.com

 [reply to]

Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 23:28:05 +0900

From: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@hpo.net

Subject: BBC-Leprosy still found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

To: <burmanet-l@igc.apc.org, <burmanet2-l@yuyu.net

Monday, February 1, 1999 Published at 05:35 GMT

Health-New focus on leprosy

Leprosy still found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

By Corinne Podger of BBC Science

The World Health Organisation is marking World Leprosy Day by

highlighting its campaign against a disease which causes crippling disabilities in

many developing countries.

Angelo Simonazzi, of the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy

Associations: "Leprosy is also a social disease"

The disease has almost disappeared from the developed world, but

500,000 new cases are reported every year in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin

America.

The WHO hopes to eliminate leprosy as a public health threat by the end

of this year, but it is still battling a number of hurdles.

One of the biggest is a lack of both researchers and funding. This is

because the organism that causes leprosy is very similar to the one

that causes tuberculosis.

Because the incidence of TB in the developed world is rising, it gets a

lot more publicity and funding. Researchers working on leprosy complain

that there has been a brain drain of enthusiastic young scientists into high

profile TB projects.

Much work to be done

But this insidious disease still causes terrible suffering and

crippling disabilities, and it is not beaten yet.

The worst-affected countries are India, Indonesia and Myanmar (formerly

known as Burma). Africa, the second most afflicted region has other

obstacles to overcome, like the Aids epidemic and malaria, as well as

armed conflicts and a weaker health infrastructure.

The WHO admits that eradicating leprosy from Africa at the moment is

"an impractical luxury".

The tragedy is that leprosy is completely treatable. A combination of

antibiotics can cure the disease, although damage to nerves is

permanent.

In March, the WHO will meet with leprosy experts to see if its goal of

beating the disease by the year 2000 can be achieved, and if not, when

the world will be rid of it.