Does leprosy still exist (Bengali)
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Yes, leprosy still exists in several regions of the world and is more common in places where people live in narrow and crowded conditions with no ventilation, no access to clean water, sanitation and good hygiene. It often occurs in people who suffer from hunger or who do not get enough food needed by their bodies to be healthy, but people living under better conditions can also get affected.
But the good news is that with a good therapy leprosy is curable! The number of people newly affected by leprosy is much lower. However, people are still unaware about early signs of the disease when no correct knowledge is available. As the early signs of the disease are painless, thus if you don’t know well about the disease you may detect the early signs much later.
Also, there are many false beliefs prevalent about the disease and its treatment in the communities. For example, the community fears that it can be infected, too with leprosy. Hence, the person affected often faces social exclusion and discrimination and this also leads to a fear of the diagnosis. Owing to the false beliefs, even if the early signs are detected people conceal them because of fear and shame.
But it is important to know that a few days after the treatment is started, leprosy cannot be transmitted to other people. Also, it is not a curse from the God or caused by evil spirits. It is not true, that people have been affected with leprosy because they have committed sins in their past or because they are bad persons. So, there is no reason to treat a person affected by leprosy differently.
It is very important that everybody has correct knowledge about this disease.
With correct information, the person affected by leprosy can detect the early signs and start the treatment before long-term damages appear. They can recover completely and will have no impairments of the body.
Also, the transmission of the disease is stopped, and the person affected by leprosy can continue living in their community without facing social exclusion.