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Since Independence, India has made great strides in the field of leprosy
eradication and has been successful in eliminating the disease as a
Public Health Problem in 2005, with a Prevalence Rate (PR) of less than
1 new case per 10,000 population. Although for a country as large as
ours, this still implies the need for a great deal of work for early
detection and cure, there are now a large number – an estimated 11
million people- who have been cured of the disease in just the last
decade.
Not all these people are so physically disabled as not to be able to
work and earn their livelihood. They are however, socially and
economically marginalized, discriminated and deprived.
The stigma
against the disease is often worse than the disease itself. Rooted in
fear, it is based on a great deal of misinformation and misconceptions
prevalent in society about the disease. It has however been proved
medically that leprosy is not contagious, it is not hereditary and it is
completely curable.
Hence, today, an urgent task in the field of leprosy eradication is to
fight the stigma attached to the disease and help those cured to regain
their dignity and get sustainable means of livelihood. The task is
difficult as social mores and attitudes have left many outside the ambit
of any educational and skill formation opportunities.
For achieving the above, SILF will work towards enabling those cured of
leprosy to regain independent and sustainable means of livelihood
through measures that enhance their skills and abilities to access
market opportunities by helping leprosy affected people and their
children to gain access to education, training them in feasible
livelihood streams, arranging for microfinance opportunities for
them and acting as a catalyst in putting the self help groups among the
leprosy affected in touch with other NGOs and charitable organizations.
SILF will also works towards raising awareness among different sections
of society against social and economic discrimination of leprosy
affected people.
We seek to integrate them into society and help restore dignity and
meaning to their lives.
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