WAU – As the world marks 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Tafazula Tasmina, a medical doctor from Bangladesh serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has called for an end to discrimination against people living with leprosy and other disabilities.

“Leprosy isn’t contagious and if detected early, the disease is easily suppressed by proper medications,” said Dr Tasmina.

The Bangladeshi Blue Helmet was speaking at a medical camp at the Agok Leprosy Centre in Wau, Northern Bahr El Ghazal, where she discovered that many people were not only suffering from leprosy itself but a host of other health problems such as weakness of the eyes and stomach issues; most of these additional ailments were because leprosy patients are often stigmatized and cannot access healthcare facilities.

“I can barely sleep at night because my eyes itch and water all the time,” said 60-year-old Nhial Anei.

Mr. Anei lost his fingers and toes to leprosy; he has lived in the Agok Leprosy Centre since he was diagnosed with the disease as a teenager.

“But the medicine that Bangladeshi doctors have given me today has already provided me with some relief and I hope my eyes will be cured soon,” he added.

Maria Unago, another resident of the Centre is in her late sixties. “I have lived here since I was diagnosed with leprosy, which was a long time ago,” she revealed. “Initially, in the 1980s, we used to have German doctors who would come to our accommodations and treat us. But conflict put an end to that, and we have been neglected and are considered outcasts. The help given to us today by UNMISS reminds me of a time when we were still a part of the social fabric,” she continued. “It is heartbreaking to be forgotten by your own people.”

The medical campaign at the Centre is one of a series of events organized by the UN Peacekeeping mission in the lead up to Human Rights Day on December 10.

“What you have done today is a blessing for everybody living with leprosy,” stated Lino Udungu Director, Agok Leprosy Centre. “The care and kindness demonstrated by peacekeepers is something we won’t forget easily.”

There are some 225 patients living at the Centre, which was founded in the 1960s.