 A group known as Voice of Humanitarian AIDS Foundation, a support group for persons affected with leprosy, is raising awareness on the need to do away with the old narrative towards people living with leprosy. The group spoke in commemoration of the World Leprosy Day 2022. Correspondent Jacinta Obuco went on a fact-finding mission on leprosy and its According to Minister of State for Health, Dr Olan Limbe Mamura, about 18 states in the Federation are still endemic, with more than 1,000 new leprosy cases yearly. He explained that a number of new leprosy cases dictated yearly has significantly dropped from over 7,827 in 1994 to less than 2,000 in 2020. The Voice of Humanitarian AIDS Foundation took to the streets to match against the ostracization of people affected by leprosy, about changing the narrative. At her office, the National Coordinator of Voice of Humanitarian AIDS, Franca Eme Corbom, shared the group's experiences on the field with people affected by leprosy. Franca maintained that discriminating against the people with leprosy in itself is a deadly disease. Already they are in pain, already they are in sorrow. We should not add to that sorrow by discriminating against them. Rather, we should come together as people of God, one nation, one love, one family. Dr. Iohen Akase is the head of infectious diseases at the Lagos Universitation Hospital, Luth. He confirmed that leprosy is not contagious. With leprosy, the truth of the matter is that over 90% of people, in fact as a conservative, to be honest, but over 90% of people who get exposed to leprosy are not going to have leprosy. So yes, it's not such a contagious infectious disease. In the context of how we look at contagion, that if somebody has leprosy, it touches you, you're going to get leprosy. It's well known that there are certain, for lack of a better word, genetic predispositions to get in. Not everybody's going to get leprosy, even if they get exposed to that. Piquin Samburu has really had a deformity at that time to keep him isolated. Apart from the fact that it's not interrupting a general transmission, it has, like you said, it entrenched the concept of stigma, denies them of being productive, being rehabilitated and getting on with their lives, living a normal life as possible. And also generally, it doesn't achieve much, to be honest. Jim Mohamed is a survivor of leprosy. He was affected at the age of 19 when he gained admission into Amadu Bello University, but could not continue his studies. That was 1999. The first time I just detected that I was, I got a leprosy because I don't know that it's a leprosy before. I was just told that I have some parties in my body, which I was just told that it's just the one one. They are calling it a lia segebele. And I went to some people that are selling the herbs, that okay, I made the herbs for this thing and they give it to me and I'm using it. After using it, I don't even see any changes. That is why my mom just took me to one abalist, which we are calling the abalawu, and the man just said that this one is leprosy. The father of three recalled how he battered with discrimination. During that time, I have some challenges with some living neighbors, even in me and living with my mom. One of the persons that, the owner of the house, because we rented that house by then. We just say that, ah, this one, we have to take it outside because his father has ours. That means you go to his father's house. Don't let me lie to you. My fate is not solely by then. Because I was just thinking, asking God, why me? The survivor is the chairman of the Association of People who are affected with leprosy and the PRO of the national body. He is particular about ensuring that nobody with leprosy ends up as a beggar on the streets. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.