When leprosy goes untreated, it can lead to disabilities, especially to the hands, feet, and eyes.
In 2019, our 16 hospitals supported 10,115 patients with care for their ulcers, leprosy reactions, eyes, and other leprosy complications.
Our target is that at least 80 percent of our patients will receive timely and quality access to treatment and services for primary and secondary impairments caused by leprosy. We are glad to see that we are well above our target.
Thanks to your support, we provide day-to-day support for people with leprosy-related disabilities through self-care groups, prosthetic devices, as well as protective footwear.
We have seen a big increase in the amount of protective footwear we have provided.
Ganesh is from Tamil Nadu in India. By the time he was diagnosed with leprosy, the disease had already caused disabilities. He had lost feeling in his foot, he had foot drop and he had clawed toes due to nerve damage.
Through one of The Leprosy Mission’s hospitals Ganesh was able to have corrective surgery and received protective footwear so that now he can walk again.
Since then he has become a leprosy champion and in 2018 he attended the Global Disability Summit at the Olympic Park in London.
As with our efforts to end leprosy transmission, providing training to local doctors and nurses is important. This training means that leprosy-related disabilities can be managed well.
Our self-care groups are also an important way for us to invest in support for people affected by leprosy. These groups empower people affected by leprosy to care for their own eyes, hands, and feet.
Our researchers are currently looking at innovative new methods for treating leprosy-related wounds. Some of the methods our top scientists are working on are groundbreaking.
