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CAMBODIA: "I wanted to die because of leprosy"
PHNOM PENH, 22 December 2010 (IRIN) - Leang Sopheap always averted his eyes when he collected alms or charity payments for his temple from villagers to hide his leprosy scars.
"I dared not to look up," he said. "All the monks laughed at me and isolated me. I stayed alone in my room for one year, and only came home during the night when nobody could see my face."
"I wanted to die," he said.
In 2004, Leang found treatment at Cambodia's only leprosy centre, the Kien Khleang National Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre, in a suburb of the capital, Phnom Penh.
The experience drew him to work as a counsellor at the centre, helping leprosy patients deal with discrimination.
Burden on the poor
Many communities continue to ostracize the infected, survivors of the disease say, despite success in curbing the prevalence of leprosy in Cambodia.
Some people harbour misconceptions that the disease is incurable and inherited. They are reluctant to touch, shake hands with, dine with, or use the same toilets as leprosy patients, fearing they will also become infected.
The isolation often plunges the poor further into poverty. For example, some customers refuse to buy food or products if they believe a shop owner is infected.
Leprosy patients also cannot continue doing some jobs, such as manual labour, after their hands become disfigured.
In Cambodia, more than 300 new cases are reported each year, according to statistics gathered by the International Committee of the Order of Malta (CIOMAL), a non-profit organization based in Geneva that funds the centre in Phnom Penh.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 500 registered cases of leprosy exist in Cambodia, less than a third of the number two decades ago.
More...
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91431
Photo: Contributor/IRIN
A patient recovers at the Kien Khleang Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre after his leg was amputated due to complications
PHNOM PENH, 22 December 2010 (IRIN) - Leang Sopheap always averted his eyes when he collected alms or charity payments for his temple from villagers to hide his leprosy scars.
"I dared not to look up," he said. "All the monks laughed at me and isolated me. I stayed alone in my room for one year, and only came home during the night when nobody could see my face."
"I wanted to die," he said.
In 2004, Leang found treatment at Cambodia's only leprosy centre, the Kien Khleang National Leprosy Rehabilitation Centre, in a suburb of the capital, Phnom Penh.
The experience drew him to work as a counsellor at the centre, helping leprosy patients deal with discrimination.
Burden on the poor
Many communities continue to ostracize the infected, survivors of the disease say, despite success in curbing the prevalence of leprosy in Cambodia.
Some people harbour misconceptions that the disease is incurable and inherited. They are reluctant to touch, shake hands with, dine with, or use the same toilets as leprosy patients, fearing they will also become infected.
The isolation often plunges the poor further into poverty. For example, some customers refuse to buy food or products if they believe a shop owner is infected.
Leprosy patients also cannot continue doing some jobs, such as manual labour, after their hands become disfigured.
In Cambodia, more than 300 new cases are reported each year, according to statistics gathered by the International Committee of the Order of Malta (CIOMAL), a non-profit organization based in Geneva that funds the centre in Phnom Penh.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 500 registered cases of leprosy exist in Cambodia, less than a third of the number two decades ago.
More...
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91431