Project of the month of March: leprosy prevention in India
Even though 6-year-old Mahima's leprosy was detected in time, and despite proper treatment, the disease is going to shape her future life. The treatment she got at a public health centre is also due to FAIRMED's activities.
A decade ago, treatment of leprosy was integrated into regular public health centers in India. This measure was intended to show that leprosy is a regular, curable disease and also to save patients from having to visit special leprosy clinics. The measure's main effect was that newly infected people had much easier access to treatment.
On the other hand, people who had already been affected tended to be neglected when it came to preventing disabilities caused by leprosy. To close this gap, FAIRMED started a project in two districts of Andhra Pradesh, East Godavari and Guntur, that focuses on the empowerment of patients and on the ability of health centers to offer effective disability prevention.
In such a health center Mahima is now being treated. She has to follow carefully the instructions of the health worker employed by FAIRMED, to prevent the wound on her right foot from ulcerating. She can no longer feel pain in her foot and has to pay attention to possible injuries. Her social environment, especially her mother, has to be informed about the proper way to treat the wound, so that Mahima can live a normal child's life.
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in favour of people trapped in the vicious circle of poverty and illness.
Very top: Mahima watches how the health worker employed by FAIRMED treats her foot.
Top: Mahima can play like all the other children, but has to pay special attention to her foot.
Right: Mahima with her mother. The two have regained hope after the initial shock of the diagnosis.
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