Efua Grace was sent to the hospital due to leprosy when she was eight years old. Although she was cured within a year, she remained in the hospital. Plans are now in place for Efua Grace, now 19, to return to her home now. According to Kofi Nyarko, chairperson of IDEA Ghana: "... we can say that the teachings of IDEA are really working in Ghana now."

 

For close to 3,000 years and continuing into modern times, 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.  It is not surprising that Raoul Follereau and Mahatma Gandhi felt it important to address this injustice.  Men, women and children of all ages whose lives have been challenged by leprosy have had their most basic human rights denied by virtually every culture and major religion throughout time.

Despite the fact that there has been a cure for leprosy for more than 60 years, the historical tradition of discrimination and social exclusion continues.  IDEA, the International Association for Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement, is an international network of support that values as its most important resource the leadership and inspiring words of individuals who have turned a diagnosis of leprosy into a personal challenge and ultimately a personal victory.  Individual and collective triumphs over prejudice and deep personal loss work together to defy stereotypes and outdated images, restore human rights and challenge the historical stigma that has no place in modern society.