Leprosy Patients Need Help

My charity campaign is focused on the medical and food provisions of the Leprosy Patients within Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. This is my personal cause to help them.

Abandoned Leprosy Patients need the support of everyone to help them secure their food & medicines. The patients are under the care of the Philippine Government supervised hospital. Due to lack of budget, they need your help to meet their daily needs.

I'm currently employed in the one of the Leprosy Hospitals in the Philippines, i observed that patients are totally been abandoned by their relatives. Since most of them are aged (50 to 70 years old), they could hardly meet their medical needs.

The hospital is a government hospital but could not entirely provide for the care and medicines of these patients. The hospital is trying to set a budget from its local income but it could hardly cover some of the needs of the Leprosy custodial patients.

Due to the severe effects of Leprosy, the patients lost their eye-sights, fingers, arms and legs (being amputated). Worst, the government do not have the subsidy to provide for their funeral expenses (which includes their coffins).

Moreover, I learned that lots of leprosy people suffer from this disease just within the community right outside the hospital who still refused to get medical aid due to financial constraints. Employment for these people is difficult because they are being discriminated.

The hospital was established way back 1927 but it did not have a campaign to lift the standard of living of the patients except for the treatment aspect. That is why i'm starting my own cause and i'm looking forward that more people around the world will see this as an important campaign.

I'm not a wealthy person but i praying very hard that these people may be provided with comfortable yet simple way of life before they die (to make sure that they have medicines and food everytime they need them). To materialize this prayer, i really need the help of everyone.

To those who have more in life and want to help others, please consider these degenerating old leprosy patients.

The following are the facts about leprosy for your information and reference.

Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) is a chronic infectious disease that primarily affects the peripheral nerves, skin, upper respiratory tract, eyes, and nasal mucosa (lining of the nose). Infected patients look like "zombies" because parts of their bodies are usually detached. Their fingers, toes, hands, feet, legs, nose are mutilated due to the effect of the infection.

Leprosy primarily affects the skin and the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, called the peripheral nerves. It may also strike the eyes and the thin tissue lining the inside of the nose.

The main symptom of leprosy is disfiguring skin sores, lumps, or bumps that do not go away after several weeks or months. The skin sores are pale-colored.The bacteria that cause Hansen's disease grow very slowly. It may take 2-10 years before signs and symptoms appear.

The disease can cause:

Skin lesions that may be faded/discolored, Growths on the skin, Thick, stiff or dry skin, Severe pain, Numbness on affected areas of the skin, Muscle weakness or paralysis (especially in the hands and feet), Eye problems that may lead to blindness, Enlarged nerves (especially those around the elbow and knee), A stuffy nose, Nosebleeds, Ulcers on the soles of feet, etc.

Since Hansen’s disease affects the nerves, loss of feeling or sensation can occur.

When loss of sensation occurs, injuries (such as burns or fractures) may go unnoticed. Patients should always try to avoid injuries. But, if they experience loss of sensation, they may not feel pain that can warn them from any imminent injury.

Several leprosy patients are under the custody of Western Visayas Sanitarium. They were provided with medicines and food but most of the time their provisions fall short due to budget limitation. Aside from the custodial patients, there are more Leprosy infected people who are not treated yet within the community.

I visited the custodial patients and I learned that most of them are abandoned patients. During the conduct of my interview, i also learned that there are lots of leprosy infected people in the municipality who are not getting medical attention due to financial problem (they could hardly work anymore). What they do is to isolate their-selves from the community.

Leprosy is a contagious disease that should be addressed but nobody initiates to penetrate the deep areas of the community to conduct an appraisal and subsequent medical help.

Now, i decided to raise funds to somehow provide these people with their basic needs and medicines. I know that i could not provide and complete medical assistance but somehow i could start a small drive to help them.

I just can't imagine how these people are being cared of without enough financial support from the government. Since this is an impossible dream to help these patients as far as the current situation is concerned, i decided to appeal to the hearts of this community to somehow share a little to support this important program.

This cause will also be extended to the community to provide livelihood projects to the Leprosy infected people to help them support their respective families I'm looking forward to your benevolent support with sincere appreciation.

To date, there are around 20 Leprosy Custodian Patients, around 200 are registered and treated but i think there are thousands of them who are untreated.

I prepared a short video for your information and reference.

My plan. At the moment, I'm starting to raise funds for the additional budget for the Leprosy Patients for their medicines and food.

I talked to one to one of the attending doctors about few of the problems and I learned that patients frequently take their medicines in an empty stomach especially during night and early morning due to the lack of food supplies.

Later on, i'm planning to hold a medical mission that will cater an exclusive consultation for the leprosy infected people in the community.

I also feel scared that i might be infected but who else will do the first move, if nobody is campaigning about this.

I hope that I could somehow trigger the initial drive towards success of my charity campaign through your valuable help.

Thank you and i'm looking forward to your benevolent response with sincere appreciation