Action Magazine Vol1,2022

YOU CAN TRANSFORM LIVES TODAY!

EDITION 1, 2022

Your Triple Leprosy Strategy in ACTION! Towards Zero Disability in Nigeria UNMASKED! Meet the NEW FACES of leprosy

The joy and hope you bring!

Even COVID can’t stop the smiles!

Thank you!

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CEO's Message to You

The Leprosy Mission Australia ABN 52 354 004 543 ACN 067 616 193 PO Box 293 Box Hill VIC 3128 Fax 03 9890 0550 Phone 03 9890 0577 Tollfree 1800 LEPROSY (1800 537 767) Email hello@leprosymission.org.au www.leprosymission.org.au

The Leprosy Mission Australia ABN 52 354 004 543 (TLMA) is a member of the Australian Council for International Development and is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct.

The Code requires members to meet high standards of corporate governance, public accountability, and financial management.

TLMA is committed to full adherence to the ACFID Code of Conduct. More information about the ACFID Code of Conduct may be obtained from The Leprosy Mission Australia website: www.leprosymission.org.au or ACFID’s website: www.acfid.asn.au.

The Leprosy Mission Australia is an international organisation that works in partnership with governments, public health officials, non-government organisations, the World Health Organisation, churches, Christian partners and others to achieve its vision of a world without leprosy. The Leprosy Mission is the oldest and largest leprosyfocused organisation in the world today.

The Leprosy Mission Australia complies with the Voluntary Code of Practice for Public Fundraising in Western Australia.

COVER STORY: Thankfully, with a life-changing gift from people like you, Shudeepta has been able to train as tailor at a Leprosy Mission Vocational Training Centre (VTC) in India and has now gone on to secure a job! Praise God!

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Thank you for following the example of Jesus in showing His love to people affected by leprosy "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God” – 1 John 4:7 The last two years through the pandemic have been difficult for us all.

But I want to thank you for remaining faithful in your love for those among the most vulnerable people in the world – those affected by leprosy.

Your heart of compassion for these people is such a blessing. I’m so grateful you’ve stuck with The Leprosy Mission throughout these tough times.

A new threat to fighting leprosy To date Australia has been blessed with a relatively low death rate and high vaccination rates. But many other countries are struggling with low vaccination rates, especially those like Nigeria (featured in this edition).

And in places like Papua New Guinea and Africa, less than 4% per cent of the population have been vaccinated. According to the national End COVID for All campaign, the rate of vaccination for many low income countries is so low that a 70% coverage target is projected to be beyond 2030. This rate of vaccination continuing unaddressed creates risks of new variants and undermines health security as well as the risk of economic and political instability. The COVID risk to health security is also a risk to leprosy health security.

“It really isn’t over for anyone until it is over for everyone”.

This presents a new challenge for the work you support. In countries like these, COVID-19 also masks the true number of leprosy cases.

A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report says COVID restrictions during 2020 meant fewer people

LEPROSY CASES REPORTED Before COVID 200,000+ a year During COVID 128,000 in 2020* Tens of thousands of cases are going undetected and untreated due to COVID. *Similar figures expected in 2021

could get the medical attention needed to diagnose leprosy. The result is a big drop in new cases reported – at least 64%.

This rising number of undetected cases is a major threat to the goal of Zero Leprosy Transmission by 2035.

While new cases remain undiagnosed and untreated, leprosy will continue to spread... along with the pain, anguish and stigma associated with the disease. You can read some of these stories in this magazine.

That’s why I’m so grateful for the love that you continue to show for people affected by leprosy. Now, more than ever, we can’t abandon those who are most vulnerable and most rejected within society. Thank you for doing as Jesus did... and reaching out in love and compassion to them.

God bless you,

Sheldon Rankin CEO, The Leprosy Mission Australia

You can transform lives today!

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Towards Zero Leprosy Transmission “COVID-19 has slowed progress, but we believe zero leprosy transmission is possible in the next 13 years.’’

- INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE LEPROSY MISSION, BRENT MORGAN

We can be the generation to STOP Leprosy Transmission!

Our goal of Zero Leprosy Transmission by 2035 is bold! Humanity has only ever eliminated one disease before, so it’s a goal to be very excited about!

Big goals are possible because of people like you. Even despite the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, your frontline teams a re mobilising and are continuing to ‘push the envelope’.

Contact Tracing is Key Contact Tracing is indispensable if we want to reach a world without leprosy transmission.

WHAT STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE? Maintain consistent funding Maintain close partnerships with local governments Train & mentor local health workers & lab technicians Train and partner with traditional healers and medicine vendors technicians to bridge the gap in leprosy expertise.

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Mass contact tracing efforts in Vietnam have seen the country go from more than 1,400 leprosy cases per year in 2000 to around 40 cases in 2019, including zero child cases in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Through your support and armed with the World Health Organisation’s Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-30, we are encouraging governments to take the role of contact tracing, preventative chemotherapy and active case finding seriously.

We’ve already seen increased governmental engagement in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

“Alongside its role in the prevention of leprosy, contact tracing is the most productive tool for finding new cases and may be the key to leprosy control in the next ten years” WHO Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030 p.16

YOUR SPECIAL REPORT:

Contact Tracing in Timor Leste

In Timor-Leste, we are collaborating with the government health services. We aim to reach the household and neighbouring contacts of every single leprosy case. We also train the government health workers so that they can identify new cases. (Although many are not yet confident to do that, so our team still does a lot of the contact tracing.)

PRAISE POINT: in just two of Timor’s high-endemic municipalities, our efforts have allowed us to identify 80 new cases of leprosy in just six months.

In three of Timor’s low-endemic municipalities, we were seeing an average of 2-3 new cases a year.

Once we started contact tracing in those communities, we found 18 new cases.

When our teams are with them, Government health workers are now much more confident about the contact tracing and diagnosis process. Thanks to your support, we can build their confidence so they can do the work on their own in time.

TAKE ACTION! 5 TIMES THE IMPACT Donate $2 or more directly to a Leprosy Mission project in Timor-Leste and your gift will have 5 TIMES THE IMPACT!* *Australian Government grant provides $5 for every $1 you donate up to the full amount of the grant!

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Towards Zero Leprosy Disability YOUR SPECIAL REPORT:

Defeating Disability in Nigeria

They needed your urgent and unconditional support... bless you for taking action!

Thank you for responding with such warm generosity and love to the recent appeals for people affected by leprosy and disability in Nigeria.

THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING TOTAL LEPROSY CARE!

Already reeling from COVID, the world-wide supply shortage of Multi-Drug Therapy was literally crippling people affected by leprosy and disability – especially in the hardest to reach places in Nigeria…

Thank you for showing God’s love to leprosy-affected people like Hafsi, just as Jesus did.

Because of you, Hafsi can now help herself and help others in her group! They have hope for a brighter future. Thank you.

BUT YOUR COMPASSIONATE HEART DELIVERED! THANK YOU.

Your 8 Action Plan is in Action!

You are directly helping 1,586 people with leprosy in Zamfara State in Nigeria.

You are also helping 4,993 members of their families (this includes 1,665 children under 18!) who are experiencing the hardships of loss of income, rejection by the community, and so much more, that can often result with a leprosy diagnosis.

Your help is being delivered in villages like Hafsi’s in Nigeria through Your 8 Action Plan offering complete healing. You are providing:

5 surgery, when necessary, to protect ongoing health 6 mental health support 7 Self-Help Groups to rebuild income 8 Thank you for your kindness making it possible to raise community awareness to stop rejection

Your gifts of protective shoes and sunglasses, through The Leprosy Mission Nigeria, are not only ‘saving Hafsi’s soles’ and her sight, they’re also improving her life for the better.

Your team in Zamfara continue to provide Hafsi with the medicine she needs and have shown her how to: ✔ eat using a spoon strapped to her wrist ✔ walk wearing her very own custom protective footwear ✔ use special glasses to improve her vision

1 early diagnosis of leprosy, and related diseases 2 Multi-Drug Therapy to cure the leprosy 3 clean water and sanitation for hygiene 4 physiotherapy and aids to restore mobility

For Hasfi, you have been a true Godsend. She already needed help from her daughters with basic self-care and domestic chores, for which she was very thankful. But her condition had been getting worse.

Her clawed and ulcered hands had been rendered ‘useless’. Her damaged eye muscles were making it difficult for Hafsi to close her eyes to sleep or to guard against irritation.

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You can transform lives today!

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Your frontline workers also make sure Hafsi has ongoing support through counselling and via a local Leprosy and Disability Self-Help Group. Hafsi is now a participating member! A world of new opportunities has opened up for her. Thanks to people like you.

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Self-Care is Saving Soles because people like YOU stepped out in healing generosity Isah had been enduring the increasing pain and swelling in his leg for years. No longer able to work in the fields, he had to rely on friends and family for survival. Although still in the prime of his young life, members of his community stigmatised him. Some of them were even members of his own family!

But thanks to the support of people like you, Isha is able to attend an integrated Leprosy and Neglected Tropical Disease Clinic. He is now in treatment there with assistance from The Leprosy Mission Nigeria.

Isah has received ulcer care training and has become a member of a selfcare group in his community. He is learning how to take care of himself and manage his deformities.

The interruptions to the medicine supply chain during the pandemic affected Isah’s condition. But thankfully, he is back on medication now and it makes the pain from his ulcers more bearable. Isah is also receiving counselling. He is keen to heal and get back to living a normal life again. And this is ALL made possible because of people like you!

Isah is so grateful for the support he’s receiving through The Leprosy Mission Nigeria.

“I am showing my appreciation to TLM Nigeria for giving me a second chance at life and putting a smile on my face, even though I am still battling my condition.”

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You’ve helped save Isah’s soles and given him a ‘second chance at life’... what a precious gift!

Thank you!

For Isah to return to farming and earning a dignified income, there is still more work to be done.

He urgently needs minor surgery and will need to heal completely.

But together and with God, we know all things are possible!

Thank you for supporting people affected by leprosy in Nigeria, You’re such a blessing!

TAKE ACTION!

Early diagnosis, treatment and self-care are the way to ZERO Leprosy Disability in Nigeria.

You can have 5 TIMES THE IMPACT when you take ACTION and DONATE to your project in Zamfara TODAY! An Australian Government grant provides $5 for every $1 you give!* (*Until the grant runs out!)

The Strengthening Integrated Neglected Tropical Disease Control in Zamfara Project in Nigeria is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP and your support, your project in Nigeria is able to help improve the well-being of more people affected by leprosy and disability.

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Towards Zero Leprosy Discrimination

Together we can stop the stigma!

Recently during the pandemic, the use of the term “leper” became popular again as a metaphor for the socially outcast referring to early COVID-19 patients. It was used in widespread media and by politicians in various countries complaining about being seen as “leper colonies”.

The Leprosy Mission actively calls out the use of the word “leper” and the use of the word “leprosy” in any derogatory way. Together with partners and supporters we work to break down stereotypes and end discriminatory laws.

Thanks to the support of people like you, The Leprosy Mission has trained 11,966 self-advocates worldwide who are now equipped to present their cases to local, national, and international governments. In fact, more persons affected by leprosy spoke at the United Nation’s major Disability Rights (CRPD) Conference in 2021 than ever before.

Your Advocates at the Coalface of calling out Leprosy Stigma ALICE CRUZ

@srleprosy

Alice Cruz, The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for people affected by leprosy works on a voluntary basis to lobby against discriminatory laws. She believes that whether they are actively enforced or not – they motivate, authorise and normalises substantive violations, especially against women.

“The mere existence of laws allowing for divorce on the grounds of leprosy have a devastating impact on women, hindering their access to health care and justice,”

towards this marginalised group,” she said.

“Despite the challenging times we live, our determination to free the world from discrimination on the grounds of Hansen’s disease (leprosy) and all its intersections (gender, disability, age, race, among others) persists. With a big appreciation to the wonderful work that is being done by all of you, I urge us all to continue cooperating and working together to rebuild a world in which no-one is left behind.

YOUR ACTION IS CREATING CHANGE! THANK YOU!

“By formalising harmful stereotypes as lawful labels and normalising humiliation and violence as authorised practices, such laws significantly compromise livelihoods, exclude people affected by leprosy from political and civic participation, and augment the State’s negligence

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MATHIAS DUCK

@mathiasduck

Mathias is The Leprosy Mission's Global Advocacy Manager and is a person affected by leprosy. A former Pastor/Chaplain at a leprosy hospital in Paraguay, it was there he was diagnosed with leprosy and completed Multi-Drug Therapy (the cure for leprosy) Now Mathias is responsible for The Leprosy Mission's global advocacy work, which includes our efforts to lift the voices of people who have experienced leprosy to the highest corridors of power, including the United Nations and national governments across the world.

Mathias told us; “Stigma is still a massive problem.

I know of people whose wives and husband have left them, people who have been kicked off buses, and people who have been sent out from their homes to live in caves.”

“There are more than 100 laws around the world that explicitly discriminate against me because I am a person affected by leprosy, including legislation in the USA, UAE, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Nepal, and many other countries.”

MATHIAS VIEWS THE DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AS THE CORNERSTONE TO ELIMINATING STIGMA FROM PEOPLE’S HEARTS.

“The use of the ‘L’ word and derogatory language perpetuates a mindset against people still suffering. People affected were already marginalised before the pandemic, and now the pandemic has pushed leprosy even further down the priority list.”

“Love, compassion, empathy can overcome fear. But it has to be paired with knowledge to address it in the right way. Having people directly affected by leprosy part of the whole process.”

Thankfully leprosy is curable.

But what is proving harder to cure has been the stigma associated with the disease. Stigma affects the core being of a person affected by leprosy.

“People affected were already marginalised before the pandemic, and now the pandemic has pushed leprosy even further down the priority list.

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

TAKE ACTION THROUGH YOUR ADVOCACY If you hear/see/read anyone in Australia using the term ‘leper’ or using the word ‘leprosy’ in a derogatory way, particularly in the local media and community, please comment or make a complaint directly to the organisation/ publication.

You can also notify The Leprosy Mission Australia’s local advocacy teams and support groups via: communications@leprosymission. org.au or FREECALL 1800 537 767 and we will investigate!

Thank you.

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Ways to take ACTION!

TAKE ACTION! Please tick any statement below that is true for you: The Bible teaches that Christian giving is an act of worship.

I feel that I should give to those in greatest need.

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If the area of need becomes funded, your gift will go where it is most needed.

Please tick the areas that interest you below and send it back to us.

I would like to:

GIVE FINANCIALLY I AM INSPIRED TO GIVE MY TLC IN A MONTHLY GIFT OF: $45 $50 $36 Sorry, I cannot commit to ongoing care, but here is my once-off donation of $432 to cure one person of leprosy NOW!

– OR –

Here is my single gift of $_________________ to help people affected by leprosy, reaction or disability during COVID!

I enclose my Cheque / Money Order payable to The Leprosy Mission Australia

– OR –

Please charge my Credit Card: (My monthly gift processed on the

of the month)

Card Number: Name on Card: Signature:

Expiry Date:

/

Direct Deposit / Online Banking: The Leprosy Mission Overseas Relief Fund account: BSB: 013225 No: 297114729 In the reference field enter: SURNAME 22ACTIONAMBC Please email notification of payment to: hello@leprosymission.org.au

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THANK YOU

PARTNER IN PRAYER lease send me the monthly prayer points & newsletter via post / via email P Please see me my FREE ASK Prayer Diary via post / via email each year

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PLEASE SEND ME Gift in Will – The guide How to include The Leprosy Mission in my Will G ift Catalogues – I want to shop from the Fairtrade catalogues

My Contact Details:

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We are so truly blessed to have supporters like you who honour the heart of God with your generosity.

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TEAR ALONG HERE AND RETURN WITH YOUR GIFT TO THE LEPROSY MISSION AUSTRALIA REPLY PAID 83988 BOX HILL VIC 3128

Bless you for so faithfully praying and giving such kind-hearted gifts through The Leprosy Mission Australia. You are essential to this healing ministry!

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Email Send back your completed form to: The Leprosy Mission Australia, Reply Paid 83988, Box Hill, VIC 3128.

Donations $2 and over are tax deductible.

Privacy Statement — Your personal details will be stored on our secure database and will not be passed onto a third party.

See www.leprosymission.org.au. If the area of need becomes funded, your gift will go where it’s needed most.

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