Restoring dignity : the Yemeni experience of ending the isolation and ostracism of leprosy patients (in Arabic)

The history of leprosy is closely intertwined with the phenomenon of stigma, which is the main subject of this new book by Dr Al Qubati. The text offers a panoramic historical narrative of leprosy in many regions and countries of the world, with extensive coverage of Yemen. An overview of stigma in a number of diseases, including vitiligo, psoriasis and scleroderma, precedes an in-depth examination of stigma in leprosy. 179 references are cited to pinpoint the origins of stigma in this disease - among which are ones from the Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an. Dr Al Qubati examines fear, and especially fear of infection, that lead people to isolate individuals affected by leprosy and even ostracise them from their communities. The effects on the ostracised are detailed. Unfair laws for persons affected by leprosy also come under scrutiny. Linguistic confusions and mistaken diagnoses, which have perpetuated stigma in leprosy, are probed. Considerable attention is given to describing health education methods used in Yemen to educate and mobilise the community and inform them of the nature of stigma. These initiatives have had the positive effect of ending lives of isolation for those affected by leprosy. The extent of the irrationality and unjustness of stigma and stigmatising behaviours is underlined by the author’s comparison of the small likelihood of contracting leprosy, with much higher risks, such as of being involved in a car accident, getting tuberculosis or of smoking. Dr Yasin Al Qubati is the General Secretary of Yemen Leprosy and TB Elimination Society, GLRA Local Representative in Yemen, Assistant Professor of Dermatology in School of Medicine Taiz University, Initiator of the National Leprosy Control Programme in Yemen.