East Timor is one of two places worldwide – the other is Brazil – where Leprosy is still widespread enough to be considered a public health threat.
Leprosy is not a killer, but a chronic bacterial infection that seriously disables those not quick enough to identify and treat it. Like tuberculosis, it can stay dormant for years before attacking and slowly shutting down the nerves that allow a hand to make a fist or a foot to flex.
It typically starts as a light-colored patch on the skin and then spreads, stopping hair from growing on affected areas and short-circuiting sweat and oil glands. Eventually, hands and feet go numb and begin to claw inward, leading to injuries that go unnoticed and become infected because no pain is felt. Sometimes, in the worst cases, fingers and toes are lost or blindness occurs.
This set of photographs come from the Oe-cusse Enclave, a lush secluded area cut off from the rest of East Timor by the Savu Sea.
Time seems to have stopped here, and the disease believed long gone in many parts of the world continues to nibble away at lives, despite a three-pill cure recommended for the past three decades.
The number of new infections in East Timor, home to about 1 million people, has dwindled to 160 last year. It is nearly within the World Health Organization’s target for elimination, or less than one case per 10,000 people. Kadalak001
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