By Evelyn Osagie
It was not the usual exhibition when documentary photographer, Washington Uba, held an art campaign to mark the 2020 World Leprosy Day.
With the theme: “Leaving no one behind”, the day is commemorated globally on the last Sunday of January. Known globally as the Hansen disease, leprosy is linked to a French philanthropist in 1956, a Catholic passionate for assisting people with the disease.
Tagged: “StoryBoard” awareness campaign, Uba’s eight-day event, which ended last Sunday, was meant to create awareness on the disease through the vehicle, “Art Against Leprosy”. It drew advocates from civil societies, the arts, medicine and the media.
It featured the display of diverse 4 by 114 feet flex banner on walls, educating guests about the disease and pushing against its stigmatisation by telling a friend about leprosy. The displays documented the history of the disease, the current situation, global trends, the number of people affected, among others. There were also academic and interactive sessions.
“Together we can defeat the world’s oldest disease. If we continue to play the lukewarm attitude to it, the whole world would suffer greatly for it is increasing rapidly,” began the artist.
He decried the deplorable state of colonies across Nigeria, calling for the intervention of government and well-meaning Nigerians.
He lamented thus: “Currently we have colonies in Kwara, Edo, Delta, Abia and Kaduna states. If we say kick against malaria, Tuberculosis, HIV, we should equally say kick against leprosy because there are people affected but they are not treated as humans. We need to make clear the myths and facts about leprosy for people to understand better.
“This year’s theme is “Leaving no one behind”, which highlights the need to show these fellow human beings love. Through the “StoryBoard” awareness campaign with the hashtag ‘Tell a friend’ for 2020 World Leprosy Day, we are saying end stigmatisation now even as we call for more interventions by government, such as funding and medical provisions.”
For over a decade, the artist who has used his art to draw attention to the predicament of people affected by leprosy, developed the ‘StoryBoard’ campaign to sensitise people.
He said: “I am doing this out of passion, the truth is that most people do not know that there are colonies in this country managed by either missionaries of private individuals, all the colonies I visited, there is no colony managed by government in Nigeria, unfortunately we do not know exactly the accurate figure of persons affected by leprosy in Nigeria because we lack data and information management, but globally there are 220,000 of persons affected by leprosy.
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“We implore everyone especially the government to show these people love, let’s make them know that there is hope for them, we must stop discrimination, stigmatisation and relegation against them because leprosy on anyone is not a death sentence. I wish people would have empathy and compassion on people affected by this debilitating disease.
Reiterating the artist’s submission, Women’s rights advocate and founder of Leadership for Girls Foundation, Viola, called for more sensitisation programmes to ensure the public is duly educated about the disease and its prevention. She observed that all hands must be on deck to curb its spread.
A medical doctor, Dr. Odunfa Kolawole, has lamented over the neglect of people affected by leprosy in the country.
The medical practitioner said leprosy being one of the old diseases in the world ought not to be heard of or seen in Nigeria again as it is in some countries. The physician said lack of awareness, sensitisation and campaign against this Hansen disease has aggravated the plights of people affected by this disease.
He maintained that the disease is not idiopathic, therefore has antidote, so the need for everyone to thoroughly treat every illness with utmost attention becomes indispensable because some mistreated and untreated illnesses can metamorphosed into some other diseases more dangerous and inimical to the body.
“We call on the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies to come to the aid of these persons affected by leprosy because scientists are no longer paying more attention to it (since so many countries has eradicated it), making the available antibacterial vaccines very expensive.
“This disease is curable humanly and divinely, the vaccines are free, and the disease is not easily transmitted from one person to another, so we must not discriminate against survivors, it’s imperative we join hands to spread the news to show them some sense of belonging, some countries have eradicated leprosy, so Nigeria must do everything possible to get rid of this disease,” he said.
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