DISCOVER MORE ABOUT THIS ANCIENT DISEASE
LEPROSY CRISIS IN INDIA
Imagine having a disease that negatively impacted every aspect of your life in a major way. If the cure to that disease were available and free, could anything stop you from seeking it? Leprosy has been affecting lives for thousands of years and was recognized even in the oldest civilizations of China, Egypt, and India. As long as leprosy has been around, it has also been a significant cause of fear, disability, and isolation for those within its reach. India is still home to 60% of the world’s leprosy cases with more than 1,000 leprosy colonies. But while it has been affecting these people for thousands of years, the cause behind it has only been known for less than 150 years.
LIFTING THOSE WITH LEPROSY
Join with us to raise awareness about this disease and to help eliminate the stigma that many people still cling to.
Through people like you, our programs create lasting solutions to this ancient problem. Together, hope is rising.
WHAT WE’RE UP AGAINST
UNDERSTANDING THE DISEASE
Leprosy is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium leprae. This slow-moving bacterium can sometimes take up to 20 years in the body before symptoms of leprosy show, although the average incubation period is usually around 5 years.
Once a person is infected with M. leprae the bacteria spreads through the body. It affects the skin, nerves, eyes, and other mucous membranes near the body’s openings.
Because leprosy affects the nerves, if it is left untreated it can lead to serious loss of feeling or sensation. Injuries such as burns or cuts may go unnoticed because there are no pain signals to warn an individual of harm to his or her body.
This loss of sensation in the extremities can lead to greater risk of severe infection, and can lead to the shortening of toes and fingers which is due to re-absorption. Other serious signs of advanced and untreated leprosy may include paralysis and crippling of hands and feet, extreme light-sensitivity, blindness, loss of eyebrows, nose disfigurement, and skin ulcers.
