Our 16 hospitals and the field clinics we own and support give people affected by leprosy the chance to recover both physically and mentally. Our hospitals offer physiotherapy, assistive devices and special footwear, reconstructive surgeries to reverse disabilities, as well as counselling, health education, and ulcer or leprosy reaction treatment.
TLM also provides leprosy training to general health workers and medical students so that the disease can be detected and correctly diagnosed in its early stages.
TLM works within communities to encourage self-care that empowers individuals to manage their impairments. Our aim is to help leprosy patients live independent, productive, and dignified lives.
Our three research centres in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, contribute significantly to global leprosy knowledge, helping us determine how to manage the disease and its complications.
Stopping transmission is a top priority, so we are conducting studies to better understand the mechanism of transmission. We are working to diagnose leprosy earlier through field-friendly, point-of-care diagnostic tests and to improve prophylactic treatment (PEP) for those who have been exposed to the leprosy germ.
In terms of reducing leprosy-related disability, TLM and our partners invest millions of pounds to test anti-reaction drugs with fewer side effects and develop innovative surgical procedures for nerve paralysis.
Recurrent wounds continue to fill the beds in our hospitals and this has a huge financial and social cost for patients, so we are developing new methods of clinical care and innovative weight-bearing techniques to promote wound healing. We are also working with individuals and communities affected by leprosy to improve self-care in the community.
Because of myths and misconceptions, people affected by leprosy are some of the most marginalised in the world. Through outdated laws and attitudes, people affected by leprosy are denied their basic human rights: the right to education, right to health, right to work and employment, right to be included in the community, and right to respect for home and family.
With a Human Rights Based Approach, we work closely alongside the United Nations and national governments to uphold and maintain the dignity and human rights of persons affected by leprosy and persons with disabilities. We also promote self-advocacy by empowering and training individuals affected by leprosy to understand their rights, improve their self-confidence and to advocate for change at local, national, and international levels of government.
The Leprosy Mission is helping individuals affected by leprosy live with dignity and receive political rights, economic equality, and social justice.
Children affected by leprosy too often face bullying and isolation and can be taken out of school or pressured to leave. They are also at risk of falling behind in their studies if treatment for a leprosy reaction or other leprosy consequences removes them from the classroom for too long. This can have ongoing consequences as they grow up.
TLM offers educational programmes so that individuals directly or indirectly affected by leprosy can maintain careers, find new jobs, and remain in school. Literacy classes paired with vocational training gives persons affected by leprosy the chance to make a living and lift themselves from the clutches of poverty.
TLM focuses on the person as a whole: we care for the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional well-being of people affected by leprosy.
Through self-help groups, skills development and training, TLM provides individuals affected by leprosy the confidence to live within their communities. We aim to establish a sense of dignity within people affected by leprosy and enable them to provide for themselves and their families.
Some individuals and small groups are given microloans in order to create and maintain an income to support themselves and their families; others learn a trade skill such as computing, printing, mechanics or textiles.
Through healing and education, those affected by leprosy are no longer prevented from full participation in public, social, economic and cultural life.
