World Leprosy Day

Every year on the last Sunday of January, World Leprosy Day is celebrated around the world This international holiday was approved in 1953 thanks to the efforts of the French writer Raoul Follero, who made a huge contribution to the study and raising people's awareness of this disease Thanks to this holiday, it was possible to draw the attention of the world community, government agencies, religious communities and charitable foundations to the existing problem This disease has several names - leprosy, leprosy, hansenosis, krymka and Hansen's disease All of them belong to the same type of chronic infectious disease granulomatosis, the causative agents of which are mycobacteria As the disease develops, patients experience severe damage to the skin, as well as certain areas of the nervous system In some cases, damage occurs to the upper respiratory tract, as well as the feet and hands The World Health Organization has officially added leprosy to its list of neglected diseases The first mentions of leprosy were found in the Old Testament However, there is a high probability that they were talking about a milder form of the disease, which has symptoms similar to leprosy In the 11th century, the disease spread throughout medieval Europe and remained a real infectious scourge until the 14th century, when people began to die from the plague In order to avoid the widespread spread of leprosy, numerous leper colonies began to be created According to one theory, the cause of mass morbidity among people was the fur that medieval Vikings brought from the East Leprosy pathogens could be transmitted by blow flies, but this fact has not been officially proven by scientists The lack of effective methods for treating the disease led to the emergence of a special liturgical rite, during which demonstrative funerals were held for living people who were infected with leprosy The decision on who could be classified as a leper was made by a special council consisting of priests, doctors and other patients After a person was transferred to the status of “dead” and a funeral rite was performed over him, he was isolated from society Lepers were dressed in special clothes that completely covered the body and face of the patient It was also not where they hung a bell or rattle, which with their loud sound warned people that a leper was approaching Later, a long list of prohibitions was drawn up for such people, aimed at their complete isolation According to the historian Matvey of Paris, by the beginning of the 13th century in Europe the number of leper colonies increased to 19 thousand In France alone there were about 2 thousand such institutions The first leper colony was founded in 1084 in England on the site of St Nicholas Hospital People infected with leprosy were quarantined there Such measures turned out to be very effective, so in the 15th century leper colonies began to close en masse The Norwegian doctor Gerhard Hansen in 1873 managed to identify the causative agent of leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae Based on his research, methods for treating the disease subsequently began to be created One of those who devoted his life to the fight against leprosy in the 20th century was the French writer and journalist Raoul Follero He founded the Order of Charity, as well as the Federation of European Anti-Leprosy Associations Thanks to his exorbitant efforts, on January 30, 1953, an international holiday was officially approved - World Leprosy Day, which since then has been celebrated annually in all countries of the world