Final week, I watched the response of my friend’s daughter when the issue of head lice came up in conversation. She was mortified that I knew she suffered from head lice – even though she understands that I am a mom and have had the identical challenge with my own youngsters in key school. She is familiar with that head lice are a popular dilemma in New Zealand wherever we live and all above the planet, and that you are far more most likely to get them when you have clear hair – but her heart and emotions ruled her head and she felt ashamed.
Multiply these emotions of panic and disgrace by a hundred, and we may well commence to realize how quite a few men and women experience when they are diagnosed with leprosy. They are specified information about the condition – that it is contagious, and that they caught it by way of no fault of their very own that they can be treated of the disorder but their thoughts, conditioned by the attitudes of a life span, convey to them or else and they come to feel shame.
This is 1 of the most crucial components in the continuing fight to eradicate leprosy. Many individuals, on suspecting that they may have the disorder, are unwilling to request medical focus. They harbor a blind hope that it could just ‘go away’ and they are scared of the reactions of friends and household. Regrettably, leprosy won’t go away – it worsens with time, and eventually will outcome in nerve destruction and disabilities that will stay with the sufferer for everyday living.
The Pacific Leprosy Basis strives to guarantee that people today through the Pacific Islands and New Zealand, are aware of the points about leprosy – that it is a curable, contagious disorder, and that excellent healthcare enable is available for all those suffering from its consequences. Only by such awareness getting to be commonplace can we hope to defeat the worry and stigma affiliated with this ancient disease.
