PAT DIAL
At the end of January World Leprosy Day was observed world-wide and in Guyana, Dr. Karen Cummings, Minister within the Public Health Ministry launched a month of activities on Sunday 29th January at the Palms geriatric centre. The month of activities will include a country-wide campaign to inform citizens of the disease and to aim at eliminating the stigma and prejudices against sufferers from the the disease.

Leprosy is one of the most destructive diseases which afflict human beings and causes sores all over the body, destruction of the skin, loss of limbs and horrible disfigurement, and in its advanced stages, disables sufferers.
It is one of the most ancient diseases known and examples have been discovered in pre-historic remains and in the most ancient Civilizations such as the Egyptian, Babylonian and Indian.

Until the 19th century, people felt it was a divine curse on sufferers who were isolated from the rest of Society. The only persons who gave help and succour to the sufferers were priests, monks and religious people. It was felt the disease was incurable, highly infectious and hereditary.
Medical Science from ancient times until the 19th century tried a number of treatments, some of them quite grotesque, but no uniformly successful cure was found. The nearest treatment to full effectiveness was calmoogra oil which was a treatment given in the Vedas, the ancient Hindu texts of 4000 B.C. and examples of calmoogra oil effectuating cures were found in India and China. Western Medicine adopted calmoogra oil as a treatment and in the 19th century it was widely used. In Guyana, it was well-known and used.

In 1873, Dr. Hansen, a Norwegian scientist, was able to isolate the bacteria which caused leprosy and this was the beginning of scientists working to find a successful cure. In the 20th century, a successful cure was discovered. That treatment was known as MDT – Multi Drug Treatment and consisted of a combination of three drugs – Dapsone, Rifadin and Lamprene.
Since the term or description “leprosy” had so many prejudices and negative connotations attached to it and to call some a “leper” was the worst of insults, the term “Hansen’s Disease” has now widely replaced it. Now, even doctors and other medical personnel use “Hansen’s Disease” to describe the disease.

In Guyana, in the 19th century, sufferers from Hansen’s Disease were isolated on an island in the Essequibo river and most fatalistically considered the disease to be a death sentence. The disease was regarded as hereditary and children and relatives were equally shunned and before one married into a family, some research was done to ascertain whether anyone in that family had been infected by the disease..

In the 20th century, a new era dawned. The inmates of the island in the Essequibo River were removed and eventually placed in the Mahaica Hospital which was an institution specially built for Hansen Disease sufferers. Later, another treatment centre was developed at the Palms. Treatment in Guyana is free, but since the stigma and prejudice is still so strong, many who have contracted the disease put off going for treatment until the disease would have advanced. This month’s campaign is directed to exorcise the stigma and prejudice from Society.

The disease is curable and efforts are being made at the international level and here in Guyana, to eradicate it completely as had been done in the case of small-pox. Small-pox was once one of the most feared diseases in the world.
Before we conclude this offering, we would like to underline the following: Participate and have children participate in the information campaigns mounted by the Ministry of Public Health during the month; know that Hansen’s Disease is not hereditary and is curable, and that the earlier one seeks treatment, the greater are the chances of a quick cure. Most important, the Society must make the effort to deal with their prejudices against sufferers and must not shun or isolate them. To still hold such stigma and prejudices belong to an ancient world which would have had vestiges of barbarism.