Creating awareness on PALs (people affected with leprosy)

magdnrobinson (53)in #health • 7 years ago

Hello steemians
Hello health folks.

In line with celebrating world leprosy day I and some other medical students went on the street of Uyo Akwa-Ibom State Nigeria, to get people's view on what leprosy is about.
In my previous post on leprosy, I wrote a quick read on what leprosy is all about. I would continue from where I stopped which is the questions and responses we got from the streets.

Questions asked.

leprosy is caused by white cockroaches

If you've ever been told this, then it's a lie.
Leprosy is not caused by cockroaches, let's not blame it on those poor creatures.
This is the tale passed down from generations to next.
While on the street, a young beautiful lady was really arguing with me, with so much boldness, I just stepped backwards, brought out a panflet that contains quick information on what leprosy is about.

The main cause of leprosy is a bacterium called Mycobacterium leprae which is known to attack nerves in the hands, feet and face, causing numbness and loss of sensation to those parts of the body.

2 It's a contagious disease and infectious as well
A student of fine art asked this

(Air view of some folks at a cafeteria.)

Ans
well, I told her, first that infectious and contagious are synonyms. Leprosy is infectious, yes, but it only occurs in a prolonged periods of time with consistent or close contact with the affected persons.
Dr Usen, the chief medical doctor gave a concise talk on the matter.
We are also on facebook #projectworldleprosyday

How is leprosy spread?
The disease is known to be spread through droplets from the nose or mouth of the affected patient to the skin and respiratory tract of another person.

Transmission requires close and frequent prolonged contact with untreated,
infected person. Indirect transmission is very unlikely.

The bacteria multiply very slowly and therefore leprosy is not highly infectious. About 95% of people have natural immunity against leprosy.

4.How is the clinical diagnosis of leprosy made
Clinical diagnosis is based on complete skin examination.
Doctors also check for sensitivity of patches in the skin.
NB : self medication is not advisable with leprosy, no, not at all, don't even think it. When the signs are revealing, straight to the hospital.

Is leprosy treatable?
Yes, it is very much treatable, early diagnosis is also very important.

There are drugs called antibiotics which are very good in the treatment of this disease.
Check my previous post for more detail.
Also the treatment for leprosy is called multidrug therapy (MDT).

MDT is a combination of different drugs to prevent resistance of the microbe to individual drugs used for leprosy. Therefore, leprosy should never be treated with any single anti-leprosy drug.

● A patient should complete the full course of MDT as prescribed by a trained health worker according to the type of leprosy.

● MDT is available free of charge at most health facilities including in remote areas. ● MDT should be prescribed by a trained health worker only.

● A trained health worker should be capable of answering any practical questions related to MDT.

● Any adverse reaction to MDT should be reported to the nearest health facilities.

Can leprosy be passed on from parents to children?
Leprosy is not a hereditary disease. So No.
But most people affected by leprosy do not have other family members affected by the disease.
Sad part is that they are mostly dejected.

7 Can I live with a person affected by leprosy?

Sure one can live with a person affected by leprosy because it is not highly infectious. Though it is advised that they seek health care.
People affected by leprosy should not be isolated or segregated from their family and community.
They can take part in social events and got to work or school as normal.
But the society we live in won't accept that.
If they won't, I @magdnrobinson am of the suggestion that schools, handwork and other recreational activities be provided for them, so they won't feel totally rejected or outcast from the world itself.

Can a person affected by leprosy get married?

Yes, a person affected by leprosy can lead a normal married life, and have children.

Why is leprosy still a problem?
Leprosy remains and will always remain a problem as a result of some factors which includes:

● Misconceptions about the disease. Despite the discovery of Mycobacterium leprae, the causative germ of leprosy, and scientific evidence that leprosy is not a hereditary disease, most people still react to it based on misconceptions, which leads to stigma, discrimination and ostracism of people affected by leprosy and their family members.

● Leprosy mostly affects underprivileged people, who face multiple barriers to access health care.

● The leprosy programme is less popular than other health programmes and gets less attention and resources at the global and national levels.

And that's one of the reasons am doing this.

Difficulties faced.
Aside the stress faced, I had fun doing this.
@gidionline (good friend) followed me up, we started from the students of the University of Uyo, Nigeria.

Some felt shy answering, and I wondered why.
One particular guy said honestly I don't know in details what leprosy is about, but all I can remember is that of namaan in the Bible.

We saw another young man, who after convincing him, he decided to check his phone and browse somethings first on what leprosy is about.
Funny, he does not want to embarrass himself on camera. 😂 😂.

One guy told me blank that I shouldn't disturb him, if I have leprosy or not he doesn't care, he is busy. (doing what I saw as nothing) I smiled, thanking him for his time. That's something else, who even wronged him.

So after about 5interviews, we went to the market.
Nobody wanted to talk.
Those that agreed said we shouldn't video them, else they won't talk.

Dr Grace Effiong (Biochemist) supports PALs.

One man said leprosy is in the air.
I laughed real hard, like how is it in the air.

The beautiful thing was that lots of them that we were able to talk to became 70-90% convinced with some little trace of doubt and you can see it in their eyes and facial expressions.

Leprosy is not Way caused by water or food or by cockroaches, it's caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium leprae.

Let's stop calling them lepers, they are just 'people affected with leprosy'(PALs).
Affected with leprosy does not mean I can't leap.
It does not mean I can't dream,
It does not mean I shouldn't have hopes and ambition.
It does not mean I should not inspire to acquire greater heights.
Let's join hands.
Stop the stigmatization
Support the movement
Spread the love.

references
[1](FAQs: frequently asked questions on leprosy)
[2](world health organization., 2017)
3.
4

I am @magdnrobinson,
I believe in volunteerism.

Thanks for visiting my blog,
Feel free to upvote and resteem.
@one-quality

Creating awareness on PALs (people affected with leprosy)

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