The Elimination of Leprosy

In 2005, I was a guest of the World Health Organization in India. My intent was to photograph and document the country's leprosy elimination programs. I was accompanied by the local WHO representative through remote parts of the state of Orissa in the southeastern part of country, where I met with patients, local government health officials, district officials and village volunteers. In short, I witnessed, what in my opinion, is a very successful campaign to eliminate a disease that has been extant for approximately 2,600 years. I was attracted to this project because of the apparent success of a model of global cooperation that I believe can be applied to a number of serious health issues affecting the world today. In 1999, the major players in leprosy elimination: the WHO, the Nippon Foundation, Novartis (the Swiss-based drug company that manufactures the antibiotics used in multi-drug therapy), the Danish International Development Agency, the governments of all major endemic countries and the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Association founded the Global Alliance to Eliminate Leprosy. The overall success of this alliance and the elimination programs that ensued - leprosy has been eliminated from 108 of the 122 countries where it was considered a public health problem in 1985 - can, in part, be attributed to this global commitment coupled with the availability and proliferation of free Multi-Drug Therapy. At a time of almost universal admonishment of the United Nations, I personally witnessed one of the more successful health care programs overseen by the World Health Organization. A smaller version of this protfolio won 2nd prize in the medical category at the International Photography Awards.

Warning - some images may be disturbing.