Sokoto State, Nigeria
The Leprosy Mission started providing Multi-Drug Therapy (the cure for leprosy) in Sokoto State in 1993. Since then, TLM staff, with the support of the state government, has provided MDT to a countless number of patients.
TLM works in partnership with government-owned Amanawa Leprosy Referral Hospital. TLM assists the hospital with financial and professional support, providing services to people from Sokoto, and neighbouring states and countries. Our local Leprosy Mission works in partnership with the Sokoto State Leprosy Control Program to ensure people receive MDT, reconstructive surgery, physiotherapy, prevention of disability training and restorative eye care.
The government staff with the Sokoto State Leporsy Control Program regularly visit villages to seek out those needing our help. After a patient has received the cure TLM connects them with self-care groups so they can have the support of other patients as they recover. If devices like protective footwear, crutches or prosthetics are needed, we ensure each patient receives them so they can enjoy living more independent lives.
Despite the gains made in the struggle against leprosy, the stigma of leprosy in society is still a major issue. Patients fear being abandoned by friends and family. In addition to experiencing stigma, individuals often lack an awareness of how to care for their leprosy. This leads to poor self-care and late reporting of leprosy symptoms, resulting in disabilities. In addition to physical problems, people affected by leprosy continue to struggle to earn a living and usually possess an inadequate education. 
Specific Projects:
- Conducting case-finding village surveys to reduce leprosy in Sokoto State
- Renovating Amanawa Hospital to provide better quality care
- Connecting patients with self-help groups, vocational training and small business loans to improve their dignity and quality of life
- Helping families access better housing, sanitary conditions and school scholarships
- Offering community education to reduce leprosy’s stigma
Fast Facts:- Nigeria is located in Western Africa bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon
- Sokoto State in north-western Nigeria has a population of 4.3 million people
- Over 300 new cases of leprosy are detected each year
- An estimated 5,000 people in the state are living with permanent disabilities because of leprosy
- The ratio of men to women affected by leprosy is 2:1
- The climate in Sokoto State is sub-Saharan but borders the edge of the desert
- There are approximately 17,000 leprosy patients with permanent disabilities due to leprosy within the 8 TLM-assisted Nigerian states
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Amanawa Hospital Changed Her Life
 As a young woman, Al Bellu discovered patches of discoloured skin on her hands and arms. Being poor, she couldn’t afford to travel to the hospital to seek help. Along with her husband, they decided instead to treat the skin patches themselves through traditional spiritual practices. But instead of disappearing, the patches grew larger.
She said, “I started feeling excruciating pain in my hands and at times they would feel as if they were turning in,” she recalls. “When we realized I wasn’t getting better, my husband and I decided we needed to know what was making me so sick. We found a doctor and he told me I had leprosy.”
The next morning Al Bellu’s husband told her to leave and never come back. Unlike so many others when this happens, Al Bellu was fortunate that she had a place she could go – her parents’ home.
Now an elderly woman, Al Bellu still grieves every day for the life leprosy took from her. As the disease progressed, her fingers crippled so badly that she struggled to assemble the bamboo fans she sold to support herself and her elderly parents.
She lost her ability to blink and her vision was nearly destroyed because of her dry eyes. The leprosy bacilli also attacked the bones and cartilage in her face, caving her nose in.
By the time a relative finally brought her to Amanawa Leprosy Hospital, 30 years had passed since Al Bellu first learned she had leprosy. She had numerous infected ulcers on her legs and her feet had curled under so much that she could barely walk. To save her life our doctors had to amputate her fingers and feet.
If Al Bellu’s leprosy had been detected years earlier, the damage to her limbs could have been corrected. Thankfully, through Amanawa Leprosy Hospital, staff are able to go out into the local community and find people like Al Bellu, giving them the cure and care for leprosy before it’s too late.
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