Leprosy Continues to Haunt India

While India is now polio free, the country is stilling struggling with leprosy.

This 35-year-old man sells Chinese food in a busy market in Kolkatta.

“I got a white patch on my left elbow a few months ago and I suspected it was leprosy. I quietly went to a private doctor and knew that I was right.”

And he wants to keep his condition a secret.

“If people know that I have leprosy they will stop buying food from my shop and that will be a disaster.”

Leprosy is a chronic infection caused by bacteria.

It can be cured, but when left untreated, it can lead to permanent physical disability... which makes its patients suffer from stigma and discrimination.

And because of this, Dr Helen Roberts from government’s leprosy hospital in Kolkatta says, many of them choose not to seek medical help.

“And if they do seek help, they can face discrimination from health workers themselves.  Relatives of people affected by leprosy also face stigma and exclusion. Therefore a person with leprosy are sometimes rejected by their family and spouse and lose their home and social support networks.”

In 2005, the Indian government declared leprosy eradicated.

But three years ago, more than 100 thousand new cases were reported.

And a year later, experts said that nearly 16 Indian states showed an increase in cases.

But it’s just a tip of the iceberg says Arunesh Chakraborty who ran a leprosy hospital in West Bengal.

“Because of the social system and customs this particular disease is treated as a very bad stigma. So, there is a general tendency in people to hide this disease. And they go to private doctors. But due to their professional ethics they are also not disclosing it. Naturally a hidden population is there.”

Gobal Debhant worked as a clinic assistant in a government hospital for years.

He says there’s another reason why leprosy patients don’t go to government hospitals.

“In a government hospital usually when a doctor sees a patient, other patients are also present around doctor’s table and privacy of the medical history of the patients is rarely respected. People who can afford leprosy treatment at private clinics stay away from government hospitals because everyone wants to keep the infection as discreet as possible.”

India conducted its last countrywide door-to-door leprosy survey more than a decade ago.

And the government’s National Leprosy Eradication Project has scaled down its activities across the country.

Arunesh Chakraborty says the government should re-launch the nationwide campaign against leprosy.

“Until or unless we make the people aware about the disease, it will remain hidden in the society and we cannot fight for total eradication of the leprosy. And, if people are aware there is no stigma attached to the disease, it needs treatment and not hiding, and then only we shall feel we can achieve our goal for eradication of leprosy from this country.”

But until then, this man will continue hide his leprosy from the outside world...

“None around my shop knows that I have leprosy. I always wear full-sleeved shirt and keep my disease a closely-guarded secret.”