International Day of Persons With Disabilities on December 3

 

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) will be observed across the world, including in Bangladesh, on December 3, to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities at every level of society and development. It aimed at raising awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of political, social, economic, and cultural life.

The day highlights the importance of inclusivity, accessibility, and equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities, while also celebrating their achievements and contributions to society. It serves as a platform to advocate for the rights and dignity of individuals with disabilities.

The occasion provides an opportunity for governments, organizations, and communities to come together to raise awareness, promote inclusion, and take action to improve the lives of persons with disabilities.

IDPD is a UN day that is celebrated every year on December 3. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992, the day also commemorates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted in 2006.

In Bangladesh, different programs will be held on the occasion.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, some 47.42 lakh people, which is 2.4% of the total population in the country, are physically or mentally challenged, in other words are people with disabilities. According to the findings of BBS Survey (2022), 3.29% men and 2.34% women in the country have some form of disability and most among them are physically challenged.

 In Bangladesh context, leprosy is one of the major factors responsible for creating disabilities among people. Leprosy is an infectious disease of the skin and nerves. It is an air-borne disease transmitted by minute respiratory droplets.

However, disability caused by leprosy is preventable if there is early detection and timely treatment of the affected people. Experts said that the most effective measure that can be taken to reduce the occurrence of leprosy-related disability is to ensure the early diagnosis of leprosy and prompt treatment for those affected by it.

For this reason, every effort should be made to inform the public that early diagnosis and treatment of leprosy prevents the occurrence of long-term complications.

In Bangladesh, leprosy, a major national health problem, is a cause of sufferings of our people, but regrettably it has failed to get its due attention to the country’s policymakers. Being a health issue, it has also created social and economic problems, resulting in gross human rights violation.
According to National Leprosy Program (NLP), though annually about 3000 to 3500 new leprosy cases are detected in Bangladesh in recent years, the real number is double the figure.

According to The Leprosy Mission International-Bangladesh (TLMI-B), about 6% to 8% percent of leprosy patients later become disabled due to lack of timely and quality treatment. Besides, 5% of the patients face the problem of loss of sensation in their hands initially, later they become disabled due to lack of proper treatment. When a leprosy patient takes medicines, there may be complications for this. If this is not managed properly, it also may cause disability for the patient. The disability, caused by leprosy, can be checked if the victims get the facility of reconstructive surgery at the initial stage. Hence, there should be proper arrangement of reconstructive surgery at our medical college hospitals. 

According to Leprosy Mission International, nerve damage is the main cause of the impairments seen in leprosy. M. Leprae causes inflammation of the nerves and can go on to damage the nerves that supply the hands, feet, and eyes. The complications of leprosy occur because of nerve damage. If this damage is noticed in time, it can usually be reversed by treatment with steroids.

The most important problem with nerve damage in leprosy is loss of sensation, or anaesthesia, which allows the person to injure themselves during normal daily activities. Leprosy may also damage the nerves controlling muscles, leading to weakness, clawing, joint stiffness and deformity.

Besides, there are social problems like stigma and discrimination over leprosy. Due to disability, caused by leprosy, all leprosy affected people are made victims of stigma and discrimination and then they are shunned by the society, which hamper their daily lives, livelihood and treatment, putting their lives at risk.   To a large extent, deformities reinforce the social stigma and discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their families.

Leprosy is a leading cause of permanent physical disabilities among communicable diseases. Effective management of leprosy complications, including reactions and neuritis, can prevent or minimize the development of further disabilities.

Disability, caused by leprosy, is burdensome because it spreads more stigmas, while disability caused, by other reasons, do not spread so much stigma. 

Leprosy-related disability resulted in mainly two problems. One is it hampers daily overall life of the victims due to stigma and another is the victims fail to contribute to family and society becoming burden to them. Finding no other alternative, the disabled people are forced to go for begging for livelihood.

In Bangladesh, there is a law titled ‘Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act 2013’ for protecting the rights of disabled people, but there is a sad issue that the matter of leprosy-related disability has not been mentioned in it. Hence, those who turned disabled due to leprosy are being deprived of getting the services offered by the government.

The rights activists working in the sector called on the authorities concerned to take necessary steps for amending the Act so that those who are disabled because of leprosy are included in the disability criteria and entitled to get the government services. 

Addressing the leprosy issue is important in our national interest, because the disability, caused by it, causes humanitarian, health and economic problems for our country.

If we want to stop leprosy-related disability, we have to eradicate leprosy. Bangladesh is committed to eradicating leprosy by 2030. Adequate financial allocation in the national budget is essential to turn the government's pledge into reality.

We have to act now to accelerate towards zero leprosy infection and zero leprosy disability as per the vision of WHO Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030.

In order to make a leprosy free country, it is first needed to give adequate emphasis to the leprosy issue by giving adequate financial allocation for leprosy in the national budge. Steps should be taken to raise massive countrywide awareness on leprosy, increase the capacity of service providers such as doctors and health workers, actively identifying potential leprosy cases and ensuring medical care, including diagnosis, ensure rehabilitation of the disabled people, and end leprosy-related stigma and discrimination.


Md. Sazedul Islam is a
freelance journalist.