Leprosy Mailing List – September 4th, 2007
Ref.: Rehabilitation: Searching
for an appropriate strategy for people affected by leprosy.
From: van Brakel W., Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Dear Salvatore,
I support the points made by
Drs Gopal and Deepak (LML September 3rd, 2007). I would like to add one
important strategy: integrating rehabilitation of people affected
by leprosy into general rehabilitation programmes.
Leprosy control has been
successfully integrated into general health services in most endemic
countries. Now the time
has come to do the same for rehabilitation! There are few, if any needs of
people with leprosy-related disability that are not shared by other
people with disability, in particular those with other stigmatised
conditions. It will help
de-stigmatise leprosy if people can have their needs met through
general community-based and other rehabilitation programmes.
Special operational research
may be needed on how to go about this, drawing out lessons from the
good examples of such programmes that are already available around the
world.
With best wishes,
Wim van Brakel
