Article Archive

(Vatican Radio)  A holistic approach for caring for those with Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) is the theme of an international seminar in Rome on June 9-10th jointly organized by the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers and a number of charitable foundations. The organisers of the seminar released details of the 2-day event at a press conference in the Holy See on Tuesday. Those taking part in the seminar include the Sovereign Order of Malta and the charitable Foundations, ‘The Good Samaritan,’ the ‘Nippon’, the ‘Raoul Follereau’ and the ‘Sasakawa Memorial Health.’

The 2-day event brings together leading experts in treating and caring for those with Hansen’s Disease from across the world to discuss the theme “Towards Holistic Care for People with Hansen’s Disease, Respectful of their Dignity.” The first speaker at the press conference was Monsignor Jean Marie Mupendawatu, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers,  who reminded his audience that although curable, around 200,000 new cases of Hansen’s Disease are diagnosed each year worldwide and this has a devastating impact on their social and economic future, forcing patients, sometimes with their entire family, to live on the margins of society.  Even those who are cured from the disease but who bear the disfigurement it causes, he said, are often ostracized by their communities and denied the chance to work or to study. The disease is still very prevalent in many poor areas of the world, especially in India and Brazil.    

Referring to the strong social stigma that still surrounds Hansen’s Disease, Father Augusto Chendi, Under Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers, said the fight against leprosy does not just include measures to diagnose and treat the disease whilst still at an early stage but also to show solidarity and mercy towards those suffering from leprosy and help them to live a dignified life. 

Yohei Sasakawa who heads the Nippon Foundation described how it had helped to cure 7 million patients across the world suffering from leprosy by distributing free of charge the medical treatment used against the disease. 

Another speaker was Dr Roch Christian Johnson of the Raoul Follereau Foundation who spoke of how their Foundation supports the fight against leprosy in 12 Francophone African countries and seeks to break the chain of transmission through early detection and treatment of patients, as well as campaigning against the exclusion of patients from society. 

In his intervention at the press conference, Dr Ivo Graziani from the Sovereign Order of Malta said their Order was fighting Hansen’s disease in 17 countries worldwide and gave details of its campaign to help eradicate leprosy in Cambodia by diagnosing, treating and rehabilitating those affected by the disease. As part of its holistic approach towards leprosy-affected persons, Dr Graziani said the Order is active in organizing self-care courses to prevent disabilities caused by leprosy as well as by raising awareness and spreading the simple message that if diagnosed early, leprosy is easy to cure whereas if left untreated the disease leads to disability and stigmatization. 

The World Health Organisation says there are around 100 countries across the world where leprosy is still endemic and the age-old stigma associated with the disease remains a key obstacle in ongoing efforts to eradicate it. 

Full Article