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span class="inline inline-left">Antara/Ismar PatrizkiMany people affected by leprosy still face discrimination when applying for employment despite the fact that leprosy is curable and those infected can live a normal life.

Santo, 24, was denied a position in a musical instrument manufacturing company because of the illness. His hands are still functional, but there are white spots on the skin of his lower arms.

“The company decided not to continue the recruitment process after learning about my health record,” Santo said, recalling his experience in 2009.

The discrimination disappointed him greatly. “I think I am fully capable of performing the job as I passed several tests before I failed the medical check-up,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Santo shared his experience on the sidelines of the recent launching of a national appeal to fight against leprosy in 2012 by the Health Ministry and 11 professional organizations, including the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI), the Indonesian Association of Dermatological and Sexually Transmitted Disease Specialists (Perdoski), the Indonesian Mass Health Expert Association (IAKMI) and the Indonesia Medical School Association (AIPKI).

Santo was one of tens of leprosy-affected people who attended the event to share their bitter experiences dealing with harsh discrimination they faced during job recruitment processes.

Santo was diagnosed with leprosy in early 2009. He never expected to suffer the severe illness as he only found white spots on parts his body, such as his arms, legs and back. “They were neither painful nor itchy. I only felt numb in those body parts. They might bleed if they were scratched. I didn’t feel pain,” said Santo.

Although diagnosed with leprosy, Santo said he could work normally as he did not have any physical disabilities caused by the sickness.

“I was undergoing medical treatment at that time and I was sure that I could perform the essential job functions as my illness never gave me any physical disability,” he said.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae that mostly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. People with untreated early leprosy may suffer from disabilities, further resulting in stigmatization and discrimination.

Most people with leprosy have to deal with limited opportunities for education and employment and even restricted access to public services, including in the health sector.

“I’ve received information saying that many public institutions, including in the health sector, don’t provide proper services to people affected by leprosy,” Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih told reporters.

Even leprosy victims deserved the same rights as other people and should not be discriminated against, she said. “They deserve proper health treatment provided in hospitals or community health centers. Discriminative treatment against leprosy patients is not acceptable for any single reason,” said Endang.

As the number of leprosy victims in Indonesia remains high, she said that early detection and proper medical treatment would be important in tackling the disease. “The burden of leprosy is still relatively high, not only in terms of prevalence, but also the disabilities it could cause,” Endang added.

According to the ministry, disabilities caused by leprosy in Indonesia reached 0.77 percent per 100,000 population. “We have to reduce it by 35 percent by 2015,” she said, referring to global targets stipulated in “Enhance Global Strategy for Further Reducing the Disease Burden due to Leprosy 2011-2015”.

Indonesia ranks 3rd in terms of countries with the highest number of new leprosy cases after India and Brazil. In 2010, the country reported 17,012 new leprosy cases, in which 1,822 or 10.71 percent of total victims suffered from disabilities in the “second-degree”, or obvious physical damage. Moreover, 1,904 cases, or 11.2 percent of the total cases, affected children.

“This shows that leprosy infections continue to occur and leprosy detected late remains,” said Endang.

Categorized as an infectious disease, leprosy can in fact infect only 5 percent of the people. Poor physical health conditions appears to be an underlying factor leading to the infection.

HM Subuh, director of Direct Infectious Disease Control at the Health Ministry, said that with early detection and proper treatment, leprosy could be totally cured and the victims could have a normal life. Leprosy could be detected early through screening.

As leprosy transmission is clustered by nature, leprosy victims should play a greater role in early detection of the disease, he said.

“If we have leprosy victims who make contact with people who are closest to them, then it will be crucial for us to diagnose all of their surrounding contacts,” he said.