Leprosy still is not a thing of the past, and the president of the Vatican’s health care council is calling people to take Sunday as a day to be in solidarity with people who still suffer from this ancient disease. Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski made this call in a letter for World Leprosy Day, to be celebrated in 2010 this Sunday.
The archbishop’s statement, for presidents of episcopal conferences and bishops who oversee health care ministry, noted: “Leprosy, known also as Hansen’s disease, in reality continues infecting annually hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. According to the most recent data published by the World Health Organization, in 2009 more than 210,000 new cases were recorded.” This number does not include the many presumed to be ill but who are not counted in any census and are deprived of medical care, generally because of extreme poverty.
The archbishop noted that from a statistical point of view, the countries that are most affected are in Asia, South America and Africa. India has the greatest number of affected people, followed by Brazil. Numerous cases are recorded also in Angola, Bangladesh, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal and Tanzania.
As World Leprosy Day is marked across the globe, Benedict XVI affirmed his solidarity with those who still fall victim to this ancient disease. The Pope mentioned Sunday’s commemoration after he had prayed the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“Our thoughts immediately turn to Father Damien de Veuster, who gave his life for these brothers and sisters, and whom I proclaimed a saint last October,” the Holy Father said. “To his heavenly protection I entrust all those people who, unfortunately still today, suffer from this disease, and all those health workers and volunteers who give themselves for the sake of a world without leprosy.”