Our Progress Towards Zero Disability

Zero Disability in Numbers

Wound care

The number one reason for a patient to be admitted in our hospitals is a wound. These wounds occur when a person cannot feel that their skin is being damaged because leprosy causes a loss of sensation. This might be caused by a person walking with a sharp stone in their shoe or by carrying a hot pan without protection, for example. They are chronic problems and can lead to months of in-patient time.

Treating and preventing wounds is a crucial part of our disability work. Our research teams have been engaged in a multi-year, multi-country project aimed at discovering new, innovative ways to prevent and treat ulcers.

This has yielded fantastic results and in 2023 we saw several papers published and efforts made to implement our findings.

In Nepal, our researchers have developed a way to heal ulcers faster than ever before. This new technique sees wounds wrapped in a gel derived from a patients’ white blood cells. The technique has proved hugely promising and the project lead has travelled to leprosy hospitals in other parts of the world to teach other teams how to use this new method.

Other outcomes from this major wound-focused project have included research into using the healing properties of honey to treat wounds, a new type of easy-to-use cast, which takes the pressure of wounds when patients walk, and new patient-focused guidelines for self-care for wounds.

Photo Credit: Sabrina Dangol

Engaging communities in disability care

Sadly, many persons affected by leprosy do not have disability-care services near where they live. To address this, our teams are working to find ways to provide in-community disability services. Working alongside Organisations of Persons Affected by Leprosy allows us to run in-community self-care groups. The individuals in these groups support each other as they care for their wounds and their other leprosy complications.

Photo credit: TAPE Productions

Another example of this community engagement comes from the GRACE Project in Myanmar. In a country that is fragmented by conflict, churches have been mobilised as local disability care centres. They support persons affected by leprosy with treatment and rehabilitation in a service that is inclusive and effective. Thanks to this engagement with local communities, our disability care has reached even the most remote parts of the country.

Mental health

In recent years, the mental health consequences of a leprosy diagnosis have come more and more into focus. Our research teams have taken up this mantel and have produced several research papers that aim to help us understand the relationship between mental health and leprosy.

In December 2023, a special supplement of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s International Health Journal included new research on Mental Health, Stigma, and Neglected Tropical Diseases. This supplement strengthens the growing evidence-base for the person-centred approach to leprosy and other Neglected Tropical Diseases. TLM Nigeria staff co-authored two papers in the supplement.

Across the world, our teams were researching the mental health impact of leprosy. In DR Congo, Nigeria, and India we ran research projects aimed specifically at helping us to understand the relationship between leprosy and mental health.

We have also been training our frontline staff in how to provide basic mental health support. This has included our hospitals, Vocational Training Centres, and community programmes. For those that require more specialist care, we have also been strengthening our referral pathways.