Leprosy: ancient disease, modern challenge!

Alhough leprosy is a very ancient disease, it is only within the last few decades that it has come into the orbit of the physiotherapist. Yet today, the place of physiotherapy in the treatment of leprosy is being increasingly recognised. The cry, as in most fields, is that there are not enough physiotherapists to meet the need, and so there are thousands, perhaps more accurately, millions, of leprosy patients who are condemned to a life marred by crippling deformity, which could have been prevented if only … there had been a physiotherapist available to teach others the techniques of re-education, and if only … there was a physiotherapist available to do some research into more effective methods of treating the early signs of nerve damage and muscle weakness. If only … there was a physiotherapist available to give advice and help to those who, with inadequate training, are now doing what they can do to prevent these unnecessary deformities. This is, I feel, the challenge to the physiotherapist-to teach and to research, because economically it would be impossible to maintain the number of physiotherapists needed to cope adequately with the number of patients. It is estimated that there are about 15 million leprosy patients in the world today, and estimating on the incidence of deformity in a sampling of 2,000 out-patients in the Republic of Korea, about 40 per cent of these have some motor paralysis, leading, if untreated, to deformity. The incidence of leprosy is highest in the underdeveloped and developing countries of Asia and Africa, where the economic structure is such that the health budget is inadequate to meet all the varied needs. It is in these same countries where tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are rife, and where the economic standing of both people and governments is low.