 Nigeria joined the rest of the globe to mark the World Leprosy Day, which is set aside to create awareness on the early signs and symptoms of the disease. Experts and humanitarians also cautioned against discrimination against persons living with leprosy. T plus TV news correspondent Ebube Eruchalu reports. The World Health Organization gives this year's team as act now and end leprosy. The Federal Ministry of Health says Nigeria is among the few countries in the world still reporting greater than 1,000 new leprosy cases yearly in about 18 states of the federation. In commemoration of the day, Voice of Humanitarian Aid Foundation takes the campaign to Okobaba settlement in the Ibute Meta area of Lagos. We are the affected persons and encouraged to live life to the fullest. Leprosy is a curable disease. That is the truth of the matter. If detected early, treated early, it will prevent deformity that often attracts discrimination. So we want to let the world know that leprosy is curable. There is nothing to fear about leprosy. People lack information if it is early detected. And because of the poor medical system that we have in Nigeria today, people that are affected, they don't even know that they are affected by leprosy. They might be treating all that diseases like skin diseases until the thing that gets worse and start damaging their system. So that's why you see some people have already deformed. And once the formation forms, it is irreversible. Senator Ofik is an official of the Lagos State Superclosies and Leprosy program. As part of the enlightenment, he advises residents to speak up once they detect any sign of leprosy. Superclosies, leprosy, and burulios are their assistants. So they are being managed under the State Superclosy program and the treatment is free. Once anybody is detected, it will be managed under the State program and for the necessary period of time and the person will get cured. The key word is early detection and more awareness. More awareness. Once many people are aware about the disease and they are able to come out and say that they have the disease, it will be easy to detect and it will be easy to cure. And that is a way we can work towards eradicating leprosy in the state. The World Health Organization says around 200,000 people were diagnosed with disease each year before COVID-19. However, this number has fallen by 30% due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic to leprosy programs.