Fw: Ref.: (LML) Reflections from the International Leprosy Congress 2025 🇮🇩

 

Leprosy Mailing List –  August 20,  2025

 

Ref.:  (LML) Reflections from the International Leprosy Congress 2025 🇮🇩

From: LRI, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

 

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

Reflections from the International Leprosy Congress 2025 🇮🇩

The 22nd International Leprosy Congress (ILC) brought together over 1,200 global participants in Indonesia from 7 to 9 July, united under the powerful theme: "Towards a World Free from Leprosy." The congress served as a pivotal moment for researchers, health professionals, advocates, policymakers, and persons affected by leprosy to reflect, share knowledge, and renew their commitment to ending the disease and its consequences.

A unifying message echoed across plenaries, parallel sessions, and informal conversations: the knowledge and tools to eliminate leprosy already exist. What is needed now is sustained political will, inclusive collaboration, and long-term investment. This call was underscored by a strong national commitment from Indonesia's Minister of Health, exemplifying leadership at the highest levels.

Equally central to the congress was the inclusion of persons affected by leprosy. Their lived experiences and perspectives were a powerful reminder that progress must center on equity, dignity, and the elimination of discriminatory laws and practices. These voices not only grounded the discussions but also provided an urgent call to action.

LRI was proud to see numerous grantees present their work through oral sessions, e-posters, and panel discussions. The activity and engagement at the LRI booth reflected growing interest in our mission, from both long-standing partners and new researchers eager to contribute to the field. We were especially encouraged by the passion of early-career researchers exploring innovative ways to address persistent challenges in leprosy research and control.

As the congress concluded, it was announced that the 23rd International Leprosy Congress will be hosted in Brazil; another highly endemic country.

At LRI, we remain committed to supporting high-quality research, nurturing the capacity of future researchers, and working alongside the global community to realise a world free from leprosy; a world that is just, inclusive, and grounded in evidence.ro

 

 

to

 Best regards,

 

 LRI

__________________RIly united under the powerful theme: "Towards a World Fr

 

ee from Leprosy." The congress served as a pivotal moment for researchers, health

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

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Fw: (LML) Monofilament Handgrip Set and Holder

Leprosy Mailing List –  August 15,  2025

 

Ref.:  (LML) Monofilament Handgrip Set and Holder

From: Robert Jerskey, Carlsbad, USA

 

 

 

Dear Pieter and colleagues,

 

I would like to share very good news regarding "loose graded nylon monofilaments", for those based in low resource contexts where they are not easily available or too expensive:

 

A fine innovative design of a hand held holder for monofilaments, via a link below that includes description, fabrication, and more.

A biomedical engineer who has spent extended time in Pokhara, Nepal, Arjan Knust, has developed and fabricated a Monofilament Handgrip Set and Holder, using a 3D Printer.  I had the pleasure of meeting him at the ILC Bali.  Conversation included a demonstration of the handgrips with calibrated, mounted monofilaments.  

I have found it to be very well designed, the construction is robust, and the handle very user-friendly.  It also includes a neat little user-friendly  "button" that when activated, glides and then secures, for both unfolding and folding away, the head holding the mounted MF so as to be securely protected. 

 
The sturdy handgrip ensures that the mounted MF and the handle are perpendicular 90 degrees, for use.

 

Mr Arjan generously extends free online open-access to the design of the holder for those who conducts or wishes to conduct sensory testing with the monofilaments would have the resource reproduce it via an available 3D printer.

 

Here is a concise profile of Mr Arjan, from "info" at this website.

 

"Arjan is working as a volunteer biomedical engineer for an NGO hospital in Nepal and is involved in research at the Delft University of Technology. His key interest is research on the development and maintenance of medical devices for limited-resource settings. He holds a Ph.D. and MSc in the field of biomedical engineering at the Delft University of Technology."

 

Arjan Knulst's website:

 

Monofilament handgrip set and holder by Arjan Knulst | Download free STL model | Printables.com

 

With friendly greetings to all,

Robert Jerskey

robjerskey@yahoo.com
+1-760-994-8935 Whatsapp

 

________________________________________________________________________________

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

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Fw: Ref.: (LML) New book: Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity and the Modern World

 

Leprosy Mailing List –  August 10,  2025

 

Ref.:  (LML) New book: Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity and the Modern World

From: Magnus Vollset, Bergen, Norway

 

 

 

Dear Pieter, friends

 

I wish to draw your attention to a recent book: "Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity and the Modern World" by Oliver Basciano. It features chapters from UK, Norway, USA, Russia, South Africa, Romania, Mozambique, Brazil and Japan, both historical and contemporary, and has received very positive reviews. I asked the author to write a presentation for LML, and this is what he wrote: 

 

"In 2018 a right-wing talking head appeared on Fox News in the US to decry the level of immigration over the southern border to Mexico. This former ICE officer bemoaned that some of these migrants carried 'leprosy and TB that are gonna infect our people in the United States'. It was nonsense of course, but this fear mongering pulled me up short: he had chosen leprosy precisely because of the nightmarish mythology attached to the disease throughout so much of the western world.

This was the catalyst for my book Outcast: A History of Leprosy, Humanity and the Modern World, newly published by Faber in the UK and available through Graywolf in the US next year; a book for a general audience that looks at how the 19th century colonial projects led to the stigmatisation of the disease and meeting some of the hundreds of thousands of those who lived with the consequences.

Working with patients and activists – from MORHAN in Brazil and Zen-Ryo-Kyo in Japan to The Leprosy Mission and ALEMO in Mozambique – I wanted to record not just the traumas of forced incarceration and the fallout from diagnosis, and map how leprosy stigma has provided the 'blueprint' for other forms of discrimination, but also portray the struggle for patient agency and the remarkable solidarity and community building the disease is capable of conjuring. I'm very happy that the book has been very well received in the UK, being reviewed in many of the major newspapers and featured on BBC Radio, and hope that it in some way helps many of those still living with the effects of ignorance internationally."

 

I hope this is of interest to the LML readers. 

 

All best,

 

Magnus

 

Magnus Vollset
Associate Professpr
IGS
Universitetet i Bergen
Tlf: +47 55 58 91 91

uib.no/en/persons/Magnus.Vollset

 ___________________________________________________________________________

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

 

 

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Fw: Ref.: (LML) PERSONAL NOTES ON THE ILC2025 CONGRES ON BALI AND THE LEPROSY SURGICAL COURSE ON SULAWESI.

 

Leprosy Mailing List –  August  6,  2025

 

Ref.:  (LML) PERSONAL NOTES ON THE ILC2025 CONGRESS ON BALI AND THE LEPROSY SURGICAL COURSE ON SULAWESI.

From: Wim Theuvenet, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands

 

 

Dear colleagues,

 

 

In the annex you will find the PERSONAL NOTES ON THE ILC2025 CONGRESS ON BALI AND THE LEPROSY SURGICAL COURSE ON SULAWESI by Wim Theuvenet.

 

Wim Theuvenet is a plastic, hand and leprosy surgeon. He worked some years in Anandaban Leprosy Hospital near Katmandu in Nepal and has been, especially since his retirement, very active for the Leprosy Mission International in several countries in the world. His main objective is, except of course caring for leprosy patients and for many others with sequelae due to trauma or disease, to teach and train surgeons and other health staff in leprosy surgery and care.

 

His motivation is (as it is of the Leprosy Mission)  that you cannot leave persons affected by leprosy out in the cold, anywhere in the world.

 

As editors of the LML it is our experience  that what Wim describes of the problems and suffering he saw during his travels are not exceptional.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

Pieter AM Schreuder

Editor LML.

________________________________________________________________________________

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

 

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LML Blog

Dear Dr Peter and Dr Sunil Deepak,

 

Greetings,

 

May I request your guidance and/or permission to view and participate in the LML conversations.  Look forward to your support.

 

With best regards

Pemmaraju

 

 

Dr V R R Pemmaraju

Programme Advisor (Medical Issues)

Nippon Zaidan Bldg. 5F, 1-2-2 Akasaka Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-0052,

Work station: New Delhi, India.

Cell +91- 9000111272   v_pemmaraju@shf.or.jp  pemmarajuvrr@gmail.com

URL https://www.shf.or.jp 

 

 

Fw: Ref.: (LML) A new Atlas of Leprosy

 

Leprosy Mailing List –  July 26,  2025

 

Ref.:  (LML) A new Atlas of Leprosy

From: Sunil Deepak, Schio, Italy

 

 

 

Dear friends,

 

I would like to inform you about a new Atlas of Leprosy (2025), edited by Shekhar Neema, Santoshdev P Rathod & Biju Vasudevan, and published by CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.

 

In the introduction of the Atlas, it says: "Atlas of Leprosy comprehensively covers the varied manifestations, including common and uncommon presentations, of leprosy, supported by patient photographs and additional video content, to assist medical practitioners diagnose leprosy in the early stages. With a detailed guide to approaching bedside diagnostic tests, this book will help readers visualise common and uncommon presentations of leprosy ..."

 

In the preface it says: "With the declining prevalence of leprosy across the globe, there has been a scarcity of modern literature on leprosy. This has raised concerns about declining expertise to diagnose and suspect leprosy. However, according to the last world epidemiological record by the World Health Organization, in September 2022 there were still more than 100,000 newly diagnosed cases across the globe. There is a felt need for a modern atlas on the clinical features of leprosy, more so in skin of colour ..."

 

Personally, I am happy to see younger dermatologists take an active role in bringing out such an atlas. I am looking forward to going through it.

 

Warm regards,

 

Dr Sunil Deepak

Schio (VI), Italy

________________________________________________________________________________

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

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Fw: Ref: (LML) Gentian Violet in (among others) leprosy wound care

 

Leprosy Mailing List –   July 21,  2025

 

Ref.:  (LML) Gentian Violet in (among others) leprosy wound care

From: William Dibb, UK

 

 

 

Dear colleagues,

 

I'm doing a presentation at a History of Medicine conference in the UK soon on the Medical History of Gentian Violet. I am keen to focus some of my time on leprosy. 

 

As you are doubtless aware, Gentian (Crystal) Violet is antibacterial and antifungal and has been in use since the late 19th Century. It's cheap, relatively safe and established for topical use. 

 

It would be interesting to know your experiences with Gentian Violet in leprosy wound care etc.

I have seen, in India, that it is still in use in some leprosy centres. 

Thanks for your input. 

 

Bill Dibb

 

William Dibb MA MB ChB FRCPath DipHIC DHMSA

Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control

 

dr.dibb@gmail.com

________________________________________________________________________________

LML - S Deepak, B Naafs, S Noto and P Schreuder

LML blog link: http://leprosymailinglist.blogspot.it/

Contact: Dr Pieter Schreuder << editorlml@gmail.com

 

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