Leprosy

New International Samaritan partnership takes Trinity Health doctors and residents to Ethiopia

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new partnership with International Samaritan, a select group of Trinity Health doctors and residents will be traveling to care for patients at a hospital in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, as part of the Trinity Health Ann Arbor residency program.

Key Points: 
  • ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new partnership with International Samaritan, a select group of Trinity Health doctors and residents will be traveling to care for patients at a hospital in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, as part of the Trinity Health Ann Arbor residency program.
  • A team of Trinity Health doctors traveled with International Samaritan to Addis Ababa this past October to visit the area and explore the idea of a partnership for Trinity Health residents.
  • Along with working at Alert Hospital, during their rotation, the Trinity Health physicians and residents will spend a day caring for the people that International Samaritan works with.
  • "Sixty International Samaritan families underwent comprehensive check-ups when three generous doctors from Trinity Health visited last October," said Selam Kahsay, International Samaritan's Health and Wellness Specialist in Ethiopia.

2024 Global Appeal Calls for Well-Informed Public to 'Break Chains of Discrimination' against Leprosy

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 1, 2024

This year's appeal calls on people to learn the facts about leprosy, share accurate information and create a world where no one is left behind because of a treatable disease.

Key Points: 
  • This year's appeal calls on people to learn the facts about leprosy, share accurate information and create a world where no one is left behind because of a treatable disease.
  • "Let us break the chains of discrimination, work toward a leprosy-free world, and ensure dignity and care for everyone affected by this disease," the appeal says.
  • The 2024 Global Appeal is the 19th in a series of annual appeals dating back to 2006.
  • An initiative of WHO Goodwill Ambassador Sasakawa, the appeal is launched on or near World Leprosy Day, which is marked on the last Sunday in January.

Fighting leprosy with artificial intelligence: DAHW and Belle.ai join forces with Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Social Action to detect and combat neglected diseases

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 24, 2024

DAHW and Belle.ai will also provide the Ministry of Health with a geographic information system (GIS) for tracking infections and coordinating treatment response.

Key Points: 
  • DAHW and Belle.ai will also provide the Ministry of Health with a geographic information system (GIS) for tracking infections and coordinating treatment response.
  • Aiming to integrate people with leprosy into society, Senegal in June 2023 officially abolished the “social rehabilitation villages” created in 1976 to isolate people with leprosy.
  • But leprosy remains endemic in remote areas of the nation, where no dermatologists are readily available to identify the disease.
  • Artificial intelligence can help healthcare staff with less expertise to detect diseases such as leprosy in regions where no specialist personnel venture."

Armauer Hansen International Film Festival to be Held: The world's first leprosy themed film festival

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 16, 2023

Armauer Hansen International Film Festival (AHIFF), the world's first leprosy film festival, consists of four feature films and two short films that depict the situation for people with leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, from both a historical and contemporary perspective.

Key Points: 
  • Armauer Hansen International Film Festival (AHIFF), the world's first leprosy film festival, consists of four feature films and two short films that depict the situation for people with leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, from both a historical and contemporary perspective.
  • The festival includes a screening at the Leprosy Museum, regular screenings, and a dedicated school programme.
  • "Bergen International Film Festival facilitates the world's first film festival for the disease of leprosy, which is still prevalent in many countries.
  • Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) Initiative and the Bergen International Film Festival will arrange a festival programme with a dedicated focus on bridging a knowledge gap surrounding the disease from a historical and current perspective.

Bergen Prepares to Host International Conference on Hansen's Disease Marking 150 Years Since the Discovery of the Leprosy Bacillus

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 19, 2023

The conference, which will be held in the city where Norwegian Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen made his groundbreaking finding, will also be streamed online.

Key Points: 
  • The conference, which will be held in the city where Norwegian Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen made his groundbreaking finding, will also be streamed online.
  • Many countries and international organizations, led by the World Health Organization, now aim to achieve zero leprosy—zero disease, zero disability and zero discrimination—.
  • Achieving this goal will require close collaboration between partners, which the Bergen meeting aims to foster.
  • The Bergen International Conference on Hansen's Disease: 150 Years Since the Discovery of the Leprosy Bacillus brings together key stakeholders in the leprosy field for sessions focused on medical challenges, human rights and dignity, and history preservation—the three pillars on which the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) Initiative structures its activities against the disease.

Leprosy-causing bacteria found in armadillo specimens highlight value of museum collections for tracking pathogens

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Since 2010, evidence has accumulated that the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, is transmitting leprosy to people in North America and potentially elsewhere.

Key Points: 
  • Since 2010, evidence has accumulated that the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, is transmitting leprosy to people in North America and potentially elsewhere.
  • In our study, we used online repositories such as VertNet to identify armadillo specimens held by museums.
  • But this bacteria has infected humans in Mexico, Colombia, Canada and elsewhere, along with red squirrels in the British Isles.
  • Our work is another case study demonstrating that natural history collections can play an important role in human infectious disease research.

Janssen Announces Novel Dengue Antiviral Demonstrates Efficacy in Pre-Clinical Data Published in Nature

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) announced today the publication of new data in the journal Nature showing that an early-stage clinical candidate (JNJ-1802) provides strong protection against dengue in non-human primates and mice.

Key Points: 
  • The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) announced today the publication of new data in the journal Nature showing that an early-stage clinical candidate (JNJ-1802) provides strong protection against dengue in non-human primates and mice.
  • These findings build on research published in Nature in 2021 that first identified the novel mechanism of action from the same chemical series as JNJ-1802.
  • In addition to developing JNJ-1802, Johnson & Johnson is working to holistically strengthen R&D for dengue, including through novel R&D approaches and leveraging emerging technology.
  • You can learn more about Johnson & Johnson’s efforts to beat NTDs, including dengue, by visiting JNJ.com/NTDs .

150th Anniversary of Dr. Hansen's Discovery of M. leprae Is Opportunity to Examine Past, Present and Future of Leprosy

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Their remarks, along other presentations on topics including the history of leprosy in Norway, the Bergen Leprosy Archives and Dr. Hansen's legacy today, will be featured in the webcast.

Key Points: 
  • Their remarks, along other presentations on topics including the history of leprosy in Norway, the Bergen Leprosy Archives and Dr. Hansen's legacy today, will be featured in the webcast.
  • Until Dr. Hansen's discovery, leprosy was often regarded as a divine punishment or a curse.
  • In some countries, leprosy is known today as Hansen's disease, in an effort to distance the disease from the negative associations of the term leprosy.
  • An international symposium on leprosy to be held in Bergen on June 21-22, 2023 as part of the 150th anniversary commemoration of Dr. Hansen's discovery also comes under the campaign.

WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Has Audience with Pope Francis

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 27, 2023

TOKYO, Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa had an audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican on January 26, 2023, during which he requested the Pope's support in eliminating leprosy and the prejudice and discrimination associated with the disease.

Key Points: 
  • Pope Supports Continued Efforts Against Leprosy, Reflects on Tragedy of War
    TOKYO, Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa had an audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican on January 26, 2023, during which he requested the Pope's support in eliminating leprosy and the prejudice and discrimination associated with the disease.
  • During the private audience, Pope Francis, who visited the Japanese city of Nagasaki in 2019, produced a photograph taken after the atomic bombing of the city in August 1945.
  • "This one photograph will help persons affected by leprosy all over the world," he told the Pope.
  • Speaking afterward, Sasakawa commented: "It is clear how much warmth and love Pope Francis has for the oppressed.

International Symposium at the Vatican on Hansen's Disease To Focus on Theme of "Leave No One Behind"

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 20, 2023

The symposium is a follow-up to an International Symposium held at the same venue in 2016 titled "Towards Holistic Care for People with Hansen's Disease, Respectful of their Dignity."

Key Points: 
  • The symposium is a follow-up to an International Symposium held at the same venue in 2016 titled "Towards Holistic Care for People with Hansen's Disease, Respectful of their Dignity."
  • In addition, the symposium will incorporate the launch ceremony for Global Appeal 2023 to End Stigma and Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy.
  • The symposium is taking place as part of Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) Initiative's ongoing "Don't Forget Hansen's Disease" campaign, which was launched in 2021 to ensure that Hansen's disease and the needs to those it affects are not overlooked amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  • To participate in the symposium physically or virtually, please go to this webpage for further details: ( https://sasakawaleprosyinitiative.org/latest-updates/initiative-news/312... ).