Nearly two to three million people across the world live with leprosy today of which India accounts for over 60% of all the new cases. While it’s true that a lot has been done over the last century to make this disease curable, there’s still more that needs to be done. People affected by Leprosy along with their families continue to remain isolated in India and are often deprived of educational and vocational opportunities for the same. Although leprosy is a fully curable disease, several discriminatory laws still exist against people affected by it.
This, at a time when the youth of India are not even aware that this disease still exists. This begs the question though - Is leprosy elimination possible in India? The answer - Yes. In the review of ‘No Matter Where the Journey Takes Me’ by Yohei Sasakawa, the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, José Ramos-Horta, the former…
