Communities of practice
China acts to end discrimination against people with leprosy
31 Jul 2008
Paul Chinnock
Source: China Daily
(see original article
)
China’s Olympics 2008 stadium
A ban on foreigners with leprosy and their relatives entering China has been lifted. As well as the removal of this general restriction, which was introduced in 1989, a specific restriction introduced earlier this year to prevent people with the disease from entering China during the Olympic Games has also been retracted.
The action by China is in line with a resolution passed in June by the United Nations Human Rights Council on the elimination of discrimination against people with leprosy and their family members. China was one of 44 countries that sponsored the agreement.
China News reports Xia Wenjun, an information officer with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine as saying, ‘The rule does not just apply to the Olympics, but will remain in place after the Games.’
Last year 3,264 cases leprosy were reported in China, most of them in southwestern regions.
Shen Pengzhang, vice-secretary-general of the China Leprosy Association and a consultant to the Ministry of Health stressed that leprosy can be treated and is not highly infectious: ‘About 95 to 99 percent of people are naturally immune to leprosy ... As far as I know, not a single member of our medical team has ever become infected.’
Ending discrimination against people with leprosy is seen as central to the global efforts to combat the disease. See also the recent TropIKA.net interview with Yohei Sasakawa, Chair of the Nippon Foundation.
Comments
In many countries there is still a long way to go before people with leprosy are given their full human (and political) rights.
India's Supreme Court this week upheld a ruling that leprosy patients cannot contest a civic election or hold municipal office in Orissa state.
The case was brought to court by two men who were elected to a civic body in Orissa in 2003, but were later disqualified as they had leprosy.
See the full story from the BBC here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7633351.stm
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