\n <\/p>
Leprosy, what is it? It is a disabling and disfiguring neglected tropical disease (NTD) that affects impoverished people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ask anyone around what leprosy is and they\u2019ll likely tell you that it\u2019s a disease from the \u201cold days\u201d, even that it has been eradicated. We know about leprosy through epic period films<\/strong>, the leper colonies of the Middle Ages, and stereotypes of disfigured and ragged people. Nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is still much ignorance about how it is transmitted, where it occurs and the stigma surrounding it. <\/strong>Unfortunately, leprosy is a pervasive disease that affects neglected people in the most impoverished parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leprosy is a chronic, infectious disease caused by the bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae<\/em>. These bacteria are transmitted when a person with the disease coughs or sneezes, and a healthy person breathes in the droplets containing the bacteria. Here are some more facts about leprosy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many organisations working towards the end of leprosy. We do this on different fronts: raising awareness, supporting detection, tackling stigma<\/strong>, etc. One of our lines of work is research<\/a><\/strong>. We promote research into new, faster and more effective diagnostic tests; we help map areas and communities where leprosy is most prevalent; and we design models for monitoring and tracking the disease to prevent its incidence from increasing. We do this work in partnership with international organisations such as the Leprosy Research Initiative<\/a> (LRI) and the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy<\/a> (GPZL). Ask anyone around what leprosy is and they\u2019ll likely tell you that it\u2019s a disease from the \u201cold days\u201d, even that it has been eradicated. We know about leprosy through epic period films, the leper colonies of the Middle Ages, and stereotypes of disfigured and ragged people. Nothing could be further from the truth. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":16735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[724,291],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-in-africa","category-right-to-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is leprosy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Working towards a leprosy-free world<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"