Stigma ‘the last mile’
On 25th January 2010 the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Elimination of Leprosy, Yohei Sasakawa, led a Gloabl Appeal to the world to end the stigma which blights the lives of millions of people affected by leprosy. The Appeal was the fifth in a series initiated by the Goodwill Ambassador.
India accounts for more than 50% of leprosy cases worldwide. Despite this leprosy patients continue to be discriminated against in law in many states.
There are serveral Acts in the Constitution clearly advocating discrimination against tuberculosis and leprosy patients. Cured leprosy patients have been forbidden to have drivers’ licenses or to hold public office and almost all of the marriage and divorce laws in the country make leprosy a valid ground for divorce. Even today the Special Marriage Act of 1954 declares leprosy “incurable”.
A matter of concern, according to the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Elimination of Leprosy, Yohei Sasakawa, is the protection against discrimination and social rehabilitation of cured patients into mainstream society. This has been described by the Ambassador as, “the last mile yet toughest challege on the leprosy front”.
Fighting stigma and discrimination associated with leprosy is an integral part of all of our programmes and something which, with your help, we will continue to do.
Launching from Mumbai in India, the Global Appeal 2010 was endorsed by figures from the corporate world willing to demonstrate their concern for this denial of human rights.
“A childhood without leprosy is certainly something to treasure.”
Bihar, India
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