Rachna Kumari was 24 when she discovered she had leprosy. The crippling stigma that she experienced has enabled her to understand and help those living with the disease in Bihar, India. Her husband supported her when she was diagnosed with […]
Women affected by leprosy already make up some of the worlds’ poorest and most marginalised groups. In many societies, girls and women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Gender is therefore an important area of ILEP’s focus. We are […]
Neru was only eight when she discovered she had leprosy. Her mother had noticed patches on Neru’s body and Neru also complained of numbness in her right hand and right leg. As time went on this numbness worsened and her […]
Thy’s mother was a former leprosy patient. She noticed patches on him, and when examined he too was diagnosed with leprosy. Thy’s leprosy was diagnosed and treated early so he won’t run the risk of developing disabilities. This is Thy’s […]
Nigeria, bordered by Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, has the largest population in Africa with over 186 million people. In recent years, conflict has been rife including the brutal and long-running Boko Haram insurgency throughout north-eastern Nigeria, frequent bouts of […]
At 12 years of age, Binta Alhassan Abubakar began to show signs of being affected by leprosy. “Nobody knew what the symptoms were,” she said. “My father dismissed it as a common illness which would pass soon. After two years, […]
A chance encounter between a Catholic nun and a group of elderly people affected by leprosy in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh more than twenty years ago proved a turning point in the lives of the six leprosy […]