WORLD LEPROSY ERADICATION DAY _ LAST SUNDAY OF JANUARY

 Leprosy Eradication Day

World leprosy day organized on the last Sunday of January, each year all over the world across. On this important day we spread public awareness of leprosy disease, including the medical and social implications of the leprosy disease and the rights of persons affected. Social media campaigns, community parades, school programming, NGOs campaigns or events and cultural events are the world in the weeks leading up to world leprosy day.

Commemorate World Leprosy Day

On this day, organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) hold public and educational outreach events where they give people information about how to prevent the spread of the leprosy disease. Doctors and other medical professionals spend time talking to the public about how to recognize the symptoms of leprosy.

Organizations also hold rallies and marathons to raise money for research and providing treatment and rehabilitate those afflicted with the leprosy disease. In addition, seminars and workshops are held around the world to address the problems faced by leprosy patients, and to find ways to reduce the social stigma they face.

Public Life

World Leprosy Day is not an official holiday so businesses, schools, and government offices are open.

About World Leprosy Day

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases known to humankind. Leprosy is also known as Hansen’s disease, named after Norwegian physician Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen, who debunked the prevailing notion at the time that leprosy was a hereditary disease. He showed that the disease leprosy had a bacterial cause instead. For thousands of years, people with leprosy have been stigmatized and considered to be at the extreme margins of society. The aim of World Leprosy Day is to change this attitude and increase public awareness of the fact that leprosy can now be easily prevented and cured.

The date for World Leprosy Day was chosen to coincide with the anniversary of Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on January 30, 1948. During his lifetime, Mahatma Gandhi worked tirelessly towards the betterment of people afflicted with leprosy.

About Disease

 

Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease

A chronic, curable infectious disease mainly causing skin lesions and nerve damage. Very rare Fewer than 100 thousand cases per year (India) Treatable by a medical professional Spreads by airborne droplets Requires a medical diagnosis Lab tests or imaging often required Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong Leprosy is caused by infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. It mainly affects the skin, eyes, nose and peripheral nerves. Symptoms include light-coloured or red skin patches with reduced sensation, numbness and weakness in hands and feet. Leprosy can be cured with 6-12 months of multi-drug therapy. Early treatment avoids disability. How it spreads By airborne respiratory droplets (coughs or sneezes).