At the recently held ‘Second International Symposium on Leprosy and Human Rights’, a special announcement was made to form a forum of Members of Parliament in India to ensure the implementation of ‘Principles and Guidelines (P&G) for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy and Their Family Members’ adopted by the UN Human Rights Council. The purpose of the announcement is to address the issue of stigma against leprosy.
The two day symposium, organised by Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation and The Nippon Foundation, was the second in its series and was attended by Mukul Wasnik, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, as the Chief Guest. The symposium witnessed a gathering of 200 participants, including national and international dignitaries, members of Parliament, Government representatives, delegates from United Nations, people affected by leprosy, lawyers, corporate houses, rights NGOs working in the field of rural development and poverty reduction, and government representatives. Some of the key dignitaries present were Yohei Sasakawa – WHO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and Chairman, Nippon Foundation; Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region; Stuti Narayan Kakkar, Secretary, Department of Disability Affairs; Dinesh Trivedi, Member of Parliament; D Purandeswari, Union Minister of State for HRD; V Narsappa –Chairman, National Forum India; and Prof Yozo Yokota, Director, Center for Human Rights Education and Training, Japan and Former member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
The highlights of the discussions held during the two-day symposium are:
- Role of NGOs/ persons affected by leprosy/ government/ in implementing P&G: good practices and future plan of actions
- Social aspects – living conditions of persons affected by leprosy in Asia (social welfare, livelihood and education)
- Role of various stakeholders for implementation of P&G – Good practices and future plan of sctions
- How to follow-up on the implementation of P&G by International Working Group
- Leprosy situation – facts, figures and numbers by WHO
India has achieved the WHO elimination level of having less than one patient per 10,000 population at the national level in 2005, as far as leprosy is concerned. However, 127,000 new cases of leprosy are being reported each year. In India, there are 850 colonies where people affected by leprosy are living marginalised from society. Serious human rights violations such as lack of education, employment opportunity, separation from families and denied access to health facilities are still seen, largely due to misconception and lack of correct knowledge about leprosy on the side of society.
EH News Bureau