- Volume 72 , Number 2
- Page: 179–80
News and notes
This department furnishes information concerning institutions, organizations, and individuals engaged in work on leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases, and makes note of scientific meetings and other matters of interest.
Notice. In recognition of his life long contribution for the cause of leprosy, Dr. R. Ganapati, Director, Bombay Leprosy Project (BLP) and the Past President of the Indian Association of Leprologists (IAL) was honored at the 24th Biennial Conference of the IAL in Haldia, West Bengalon 28th February 2004. He received a memento from the Member of Parliament, Mr. Lakshman Seth. Dr. Ganapati had also earlier held positions of the Honorary Secretary and Vice President of IAL.
Notice from the ILEP. Three guides which have recently been published by ILEP on the topics of training in leprosy, integration of leprosy services, and how to carry out a skin smear. A brief background to each is given below. These publications can be ordered through books@ilep.org.uk.
1. ILEP Technical Guide: Training in Leprosy
This guide is aimed at staff who organize, support and run leprosy training activities at national, regional or district level. It offers practical guidance on topics such as assessing training needs, effective teaching and learning methods, online learning, onthe-job training and organizing evaluations.
It has been developed in consultation with a number of practitioners who have extensive experience in leprosy training, and this is reflected in the many practical tools and ideas that it contains. It will be a useful guide for training managers, facilitators, trainers, supervisors and other teaching staff.
64 pages, 24 cm x 16 cm
ISBN 0947543260
2. ILEP Technical Guide: Facilitating the Integration Process-A guide to the integration of leprosy services within the general health system
This book offers guidance to public health managers and decision-makers at national and regional level faced with the task of integrating leprosy services into the general health system. The guide systematically describes all the steps involved in the integration process, from situation analysis and the development of a plan of action, to implementation and evaluation.
It is founded on the experience of countries that have already gone through the integration process, and aims to help ensure that the lessons learned during these experiences are applied more widely.
36 pages, 24 cm x 16 cm
ISBN 0947543279
3. How to do a skin smear examination for leprosy: ILEP Learning Guide Three (available in English and French)
This guide consists of three laminated and detachable A4 sheets, and is a clearly presented and durable reference guide for use in the clinic or laboratory. It describes how to carry out all the steps involved in taking a skin smear, and is targeted largely at health workers or laboratory staff with responsibility for taking and reading skin smears, as well as laboratory technicians who may be required to prepare the reagents.
6 A4 pages in 3 detachable laminated sheets.
From IDEA. Leprosy and Human Rights. The official discussion of leprosy as a human rights issue continued from May 29 through May 31, 2004 during the 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland. Representatives of The Nippon Foundation, IDEA and the Sasasakawa Memorial Health Foundation met with Acting UN High Commissioner Bertrand Ramcharan and also made presentations on the denial of human rights experienced by millions of individuals affected by leprosy and their families. Rights that have been denied include but are not limited to: the Right to Education, the Right to Work, the Right to Freedom of Movement, the Right to Family; the Right to Freedom from Degrading Treatment and the Right to an Existence Worthy of Human Dignity.
For over 3000 years and continuing into the 21st century, the stigma associated with leprosy remains the most persistent and pervasive form of social injustice, prejudice, and discrimination that society has forced upon its fellow human beings. Individuals whose lives have been challenged by leprosy have had their most basic human rights denied by virtually every culture and every major religion throughout time. Throughout this history individuals with leprosy have often been unjustly "blamed" for their disease, with leprosy regarded as punishment for supposed wrongdoing. Discussing leprosy as a human rights issue shifts the burden or responsibility for wrongdoing to society and thus provides a powerful tool for eliminating the stigma and its associated prejudice and discrimination that have denied millions of individuals their rightful place in the world community.
"Our exclusion has been taken for granted in the cultures, religions and languages of society for generations."
- Arega Kassa Zelelew, IDEA Ethiopia
