The Lepers Act 1898 needs to be repealed
There is an Act passed by the then British-India government in the year 1898 called 'The Lepers Act 1898'. This was meant to control and deal with the people who were suffering from the disease called 'Leprosy'. This was preceded by the Leper Act 1895. All these were prejudicial to the human rights of the people affected by the stigmatizing disease. They were meant for the segregation and ancient unscientific treatment of "pauper lepers" and to prohibit them from following certain callings or trades.
To start with, the very name of the Act (The Lepers Act) is derogatory in itself. We don't define a person suffering from a disease by the name of that particular disease. A century ago or even later the cure of leprosy was not known. But there has been now a dependable scientific treatment for leprosy. It is the WHO approved Multi Drug Therapy (MDT) --- a combination of three drugs: Dapsone, Clofazimine and Rifampicine, which is the most effective treatment against leprosy available till today. Leprosy is a very mild-infectious disease; in general 95% people have natural immunity against it. It is curable and its treatment is freely available at all Upazila Health Complexes and leprosy-related organizations including the Leprosy Mission Bangladesh. Therefore, there is no place for social discrimination against people affected by leprosy.
The above-mentioned legislation passed more than a century ago was the best thing that they could do during those days in the absence of any effective cure of the disease, which was surrounded by ignorance, superstitions of all sorts resulting in isolating stigma. Now, since the 1980s there is effective cure for leprosy. Diagnosed early and People suffering from leprosy and their family inmates have a right to a normal life. Today it is deplorable to deny any basic rights to someone because he or she had once leprosy.
It is estimated that on average every two minutes someone is reported to have leprosy in the world. In Bangladesh now annually 5,000 to 5,500 people are detected with leprosy. Stigma creates social and emotional pain and self-stigma, which is worse. This leads us to work for the total healing of the people concerned. About a dozen of charitable organizations are working towards the achievement of the Vision: "A Bangladesh without leprosy" within the frame-work of the National Leprosy Elimination Programme of government.
The Leprosy Mission Bangladesh, which is the Bangladesh chapter of the Leprosy Mission International has been dedicated to the cause of the leprosy affected people with various programmatic interventions since the early 90s in the country. Our primary focus is to eradicate the causes and consequences of leprosy. Towards this goal one of our activities is to make people aware about the truth of leprosy: it is not a curse. It is curable and social discrimination has no place here any longer.
This public awareness is vital for ensuring early detection and prescribed treatment. The early one receives treatment the better it is. Otherwise there is risk of deformity. We advocate for the human rights of the leprosy-affected people so that they are no more marginalized, alienated and discriminated against in any way but are respected as human beings just like any other person in the society.
Let all people of goodwill join hands to eliminate fear, discrimination, and social stigma wherever they exist. There is a need of a serious political commitment both on part of the government and the public. One of the most important areas is the legislation to stop exclusion and discrimination and in favour of integration. The Lepers Act 1898 needs to be repealed. Discrimination is markedly decreased in many countries. Geoff Warne, General Director of Leprosy Mission International rightly says, "At the government level, we can encourage the repeal of discriminatory legislation and focusing of sound policy on the needs of people with disabilities, including leprosy disabilities."
Leprosy treatment should be integrated at the general hospitals. At the global level there are many Strategic documents/Charters advocating for the promotion and protection of human rights of leprosy affected people, e.g., UN Charter of Universal Human rights, UN Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities, Declaration of the Human Rights Council, etc. etc.
Our appeal to the concerned authorities of government is to please repeal the old derogatory Lepers Act 1898 and also to replace the same by any law that will help promote and protect the human rights of those ill-fated people in our society. As an ordinary citizen of the country and a staff of the Leprosy Mission Bangladesh, which is committed to doing advocacy for the restoration of human dignity and justice to the people affected by leprosy, I appeal to the government to take necessary steps in this regard and bring some ray of hope in the lives of those people.
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