The diagnosis and treatment of leprosy is easy and effective. The best way of preventing disabilities associated with it, as well as preventing further transmission, lies in early diagnosis and treatment. Since 1983 the disease has been curable with multidrug therapy, and since 1985 this therapy has been made available by the World Health Organization (WHO) free of charge around the world. The greatest barriers to eliminating the disease are ignorance and stigma. Information campaigns about leprosy in endemic areas are of supreme importance so that people affected by leprosy and their families -- historically attracted from their communities -- come forward and receive treatment. The campaigns stress that leprosy is curable, that drugs to take care of it are available free throughout India, and that people affected by leprosy should not be excluded from society. The central messages of the campaign were: 1. Leprosy is not hereditary. 2. Leprosy is not caused by bad deeds in previous life. 3. Leprosy is not spread by touch. The campaign used 50 television and 213 radio programmes in 20 languages, and 85000 information posters. More than 1700 live drama shows, 2746 mobile video screenings, and 3670 public events or competitions were performed in remote areas. Independent market surveys were conducted before, during and after the campaign found: Reach of the media campaign: The radio and TV spots were seen by 59% of respondents, or 275 million people. 1. Transmissibility and durability: The proportion of people who believed that leprosy was transmitted by touch fell from 52% to 27%. The proportion believing that people with leprosy who take multidrug therapy are still infectious fell from 25% to 12%. Those who knew that leprosy was curable rose from 84% to 91%. 2. Symptoms: Awareness that loss of sensation could be a possible symptom of leprosy rose from 65% to 80%. Awareness or pale reddish patches as a possible symptom remained unchanged at 86%. Awareness of non-itchy patches rose from 37% to 55%. 3. Therapies: The awareness rate in control villages (not covered in the campaign) that multidrug therapy was a cure for leprosy was only 56% but in villages that had been shown live drama, it was 82%. In rural areas, awareness that the treatment was free was 89% among those exposed to the poster campaign, against 20% in those not exposed. 4. Stigma: The proportion of people saying they would be willing to sit next to a person affected by leprosy was 10% higher in villages where drama shows had been used than in those without. Similarly, the proportion of those claiming they would be willing to eat food served by somebody affected by leprosy was 50% in villages covered by the campaign, against 32% in those not covered.
11. In the line ".... ostracized from their communities…." the word 'ostracized' DOES NOT refer to: exclude from a society or group. prevent someone from taking part in the activities of a group. agreed to take something. banish (an unpopular or overly powerful citizen) from a city.
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Ostracize has Greek roots
Explanation:
- In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled through a practice called ex-communication.
- Voters will choose to deport another citizen by writing that citizen's name on a pot. Those obtaining sufficient votings would then be accountable to provisional exile from the government (usually for ten years).
- The English verb ostracise may mean "exile from the ancient method of ostracism", but these days it usually refers to the general exclusion of an individual from a group upon the agreement of its members.
- Ostracism and ostracise are derived from the Greek ostracizing ("to banish by voting with a potshard"). Its forebear, the Greek ostrakon ("shell" or "potshard"), furthermore enabled to provide the English the phrase oyster.
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