What is the most important lesson to be drawn from the history of leprosy - Essay Example

This has somehow been brought over to modern times where the treatment of leprosy has often been carried out in hospitals that are separate hospitals or a leprosarium as a result of the stigmatization. The occurrence or incidences of leprosy has been so prevalent in certain areas and times throughout history, and this has inspired and influenced the cultural practices that are experienced in the world at large in the discussion over leprocy. The question then is what are the important lessons to be drawn from the history of leprosy to the current world?

Leung and Liang (2009) gives the history of leprosy in China and how the obsession with the problem led to the rejection of the lepers as it was believed that the condition was incurable and contagious. While most mainstream texts in the medical field at the time were categorical about the description of leprosy, there were also social attitudes and religious views on the ailment that were at times confusing and ambiguous. In Imperial China, there was segregation of people who had leprosy as it was believed that the body of such sufferers was highly contagious.

In the Fujian regions of China during the Late Imperial China, the belief was that the ailment of leprosy is transmitted through sex but the fear of being affected by the disease known by the natives as lillai led it to be seen as a social phenomenon. From Leung’s Leprosy in China we can learn that there have been diverse social, cultural and intellectual dimensions of leprosy in the world and not only China alone and it gives the significance and understanding of the disease as in the past as viewed from a religious and medical angle.

The lesson is that there was also confusion as to what leprosy is as some of them referred to it as dafeng which refers to the etiological pattern of the invasion of wind or lillai which refer to the symptoms and sores on the skin. The different perceptions