Children and teenagers affected by leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) remain hidden, invisible, forgotten and dehumanised, a UN expert said today. Ahead of World Leprosy Day, the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, Alice Cruz, issued the following statement:
"Leprosy is mostly diagnosed in children aged between 10 and 14 years due to its long incubation period following exposure. Cases among younger children have been observed and, more rarely, cases in infants have also been reported.
Since the creation of my mandate in 2017, I have received numerous reports of children affected by leprosy being expelled from schools, separated from other students, rejected by their peers, bullied, verbally and physically abused by family members, neighbours, and schoolteachers. Due to a lack of access to medical care and stigmatisation, informal segregation in "leprosy colonies" still happens in some cases, even if it is no longer implemented as State policy.
I received considerable testimonies about persons diagnosed with leprosy during their childhood and who attempted to commit suicide as adults. Stigmatisation has long-lasting impacts over an entire lifetime. Girls affected by leprosy are especially vulnerable to various forms of discrimination and violence.
Detection of leprosy cases was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic when the global detection rate for new child cases dropped from 7.9 to 4.5 per million child population. This is alarming because children affected by leprosy are a strong indicator of the extent of ongoing transmission. For leprosy, under-detection leads to an increase in the rate of transmission and in the number of new cases among children, who may also be more likely to be diagnosed with long-term physical impairments.
I urge States and other stakeholders, including the health industry, to ensure child-friendly, gender-sensitive, disability-inclusive services, including health and child protection, as well as appropriate medical expertise and public policies to treat leprosy in children. Children affected by leprosy must be recognized as rights-holders and their meaningful participation in relevant policy-making processes must be duly enabled."
