2021 World Leprosy Day: Charity Care Network organises “Killing the Entrepreneur” photo exhibition
Charity Care Network, an NGO that is devoted to leprosy advocacy has unveiled plans to commemorate The World Leprosy Day 2021 with a photo exhibition titled ¨Killing The Entrepreneur.¨ The exhibition is scheduled to hold at Parliament Bar, Jakande Estate, Isolo at 12 noon on January 31.
The Project Coordinator for Charity Care Network, Chukwemeke Washington Uba, a documentary photographer and artist, said: “We unite around one goal, which is to beat Leprosy. This, we invite the international community to help spread the word that leprosy is curable, join in the fight to end the stigma, and help advocate for the mental wellbeing of persons who have experienced leprosy and other neglected tropical diseases’’.
According to Uba, “The aim of this documentary exhibition in marking the 2021 World Leprosy Day is to bring to the fore the need for government´s support on the renovation of the leprosy facilities and to formulate a new approach by stakeholders for entrepreneurial sustainability of the colonies, thereby reducing the reliance on donor organizations.”
Uba, who has documented the major leprosy colonies in Nigeria for seven years, decried the deplorable state of the entrepreneurial facilities within the colonies. Workshops for vocational skills such as carpentry, tailoring, brick industry, palm oil mill, artificial limb factory, etc have become dilapidated and non-functional thereby robbing the inmates of the colonies the opportunity to gain entrepreneurial skills.
With an annual new case detection of 4000 people, a Grade 2 disability rate of 12%, and nearly 10% child ratio among new cases, leprosy remains a disease of public health importance in Nigeria.
With a declining budgetary allocation to leprosy control and a pervasive loss of expertise, Uba noted that Nigeria must re-organize its leprosy control services to further reduce the burden of the disease and ensure quality care to people affected by leprosy.
World Leprosy Day on the last Sunday of January raises public awareness of leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease. On this occasion, the international community advocates for the rights of people affected by leprosy and also rev up efforts to combat the medical and social implications of leprosy.
Established in 1954 by French philanthropist and writer, Raoul Follereau, the day has raised global awareness and call attention to the fact that leprosy can be prevented, treated and cured. Typically, on World Leprosy Day, organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) hold public and educational outreach events where they give people information about how to prevent the spread of the disease, how it can be treated, and the importance to end social stigma.
