Disease: Patients affected by leprosy sit inside their nursing home in Mayanchaung resettlement village in the town of Hlegue, near Yangon in Myanmar | | Outstretched: Yohei Sasakawa (right), World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, holds the hand of a patient affected by leprosy |
Greeting: Mr Sasakawa, who is also chairman of grant-making group the Nippon Foundation, wanted to raise awareness of the stigmas attached to the disease | | Handiwork: Patients affected by leprosy make shirts with sewing machines at their nursing home in Mayanchaung resettlement village |
Young voices: Children from families of patients affected by leprosy disease, sing as they pray at a Christian church in Mayanchaung resettlement village | | Sufferers: A patients lies in bed inside their nursing home in Mayanchaung Resettlement Village. Myanmar achieved the WHO elimination level in 2003 |
Still problems: At least 3,000 new cases of leprosy are being reported each year in Myanmar | | Flower: Mayanchaung village was established in March 1989, with a current population of about 1,600. There are 140 residents affected by leprosy |
Development: Leprosy has been around for thousands of years and often led sufferers to be shunned as social outcasts. | | Speech: Mr Sasakawa (centre) talks during his visit at the nursing home for patients affected by leprosy in Mayanchaung resettlement village |
Sewing: Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae, and is more likely to be caught by children than adults | | Reciting: Patients affected by leprosy chant prayers at a Christian church in Mayanchaung resettlement village |
posted by The Nippon Foundation at 14:02|
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