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Bianca Iboma
The Executive Director of Voice of Humanitarian Aid Foundation (VOHAF), Mrs. Franca Emekobum, has called for an end to stigmatisation against victims of leprosy.
Speaking at a one-day sensitisation seminar held at the Ikeja Local Government Area of Lagos State, as part of the organisations activities to mark the 2019 World Leprosy Day, Emekobum stigmatisation and discrimination against leprosy victims were unfortunate, while also urging the government to resettle victims cured of the disease with their families.
She said: “It is sad that in spite of the recent developments in medicine and health education about leprosy, people still do not understand that they can be cured of the disease permanently and be integrated into the society.
“They see the external signs and think it is not over. Leprosy can be cured and once cured it is cured. The continuous stay in their various colonies as a result of stigmatisation makes no meaning to life.”
Emekobum said children of leprosy victims were free from the disease, while appealing to the society to support and fund their education.
She gave a stunning revelation that about 2,892 new cases of leprosy was reported according to a study, and that Nigeria was third African country with increasing rate.
According to her, “of utmost concern is the existence of new leprosy reported each year among the general population, including children and those with grade two disability.
“With new cases of leprosy detected yearly, despite efforts made by government and individuals to rid the nation of the ailment, the scourge continued to affect the people in the society.”
She said though shocking as the report might be, it may not be surprising because of the almost total neglect of the people afflicted with the disease by government and even the society.
“Leprosy is not contagious; not hereditary. It is curable, especially if reported to the appropriate health centres early and, above all, the drugs for the treatment are free, she said.”
On his part, the coordinator of the Tuberculosis, Buruli Ulcer and Leprosy Unit of Ikeja Local Government, Olasukunmi Olamilekan, said victims who live in settlements are still faced with several challenges, ranging from infrastructure development to basic needs, like routine drugs, lateness in presenting cases at the health care facilities that makes matters worse, mistaken belief about the disease being highly contagious and hereditary
A Nigeria representative of Damien Foundation, Belgium, a leprosy consulting organisation, Mr. Akinrinbola Gbadebo, charged the government to pick interest in the project.
