Care for Cure – Leprosy

Care for Cure – Leprosy

The Care for Cure project supports people with leprosy. Every year more than 3,000 people in Nepal are diagnosed with leprosy. Many more will remain undiagnosed due to stigma, fear, and lack of medical expertise. While for many, it is about battling the unknown.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is caused by Mycobac­terium leprae. It causes nerve damage and muscle weak­ness. Symp­toms may occur within one year but can also take as long as twenty years or even more to appear. Leprosy is likely trans­mit­ted via droplets, from the nose and mouth, during close and fre­quent contact with untreated cases. Untreated, leprosy can cause pro­gres­sive and per­ma­nent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes.

Since its estab­lish­ment in 1952, the Inter­na­tional Nepal Fel­low­ship [INF] has cared for leprosy patients. INF con­tin­ues to treat and reha­bil­i­tate patients affected by leprosy by pro­vid­ing multi-drug therapy, nec­es­sary surgery, peer coun­selling by former patients, and self-care train­ing for patients with ongoing impair­ments and the pro­vi­sion of assis­tive devices. From the early 1970s, INF also helped to pioneer and support gov­ern­ment-led leprosy control pro­grammes in the Western half of the country, iden­ti­fy­ing and treat­ing cases of leprosy in some of the poorest and most remote dis­tricts of Nepal.

Work by the gov­ern­ment, INF and other organ­i­sa­tions led to a sig­nif­i­cant reduc­tion in leprosy, and in 2009 the disease was offi­cially declared elim­i­nated in Nepal. This is defined glob­ally as less than one case of leprosy per 10,000 people in the pop­u­la­tion. While this is an out­stand­ing achieve­ment, the disease is far from entirely erad­i­cated, with over 3000 new cases iden­ti­fied and rising each year.

Annu­ally, the three hos­pi­tals of INF Nepal- Green Pas­tures Hos­pi­tal- Pokhara, Shining Hos­pi­tal- Banke and Surkhet treats around 280 new leprosy patients, more than 24,000 out­pa­tient visits (new and return­ing). And each year the number of patients con­tinue to grow — as leprosy is still spread­ing in Nepal.

$75 will help provide food, med­i­cines, ther­a­peu­tic ses­sions, pro­tec­tive shoes and a self-care kit for one leprosy sufferer