Now in its 130th anniversary year, St Francis Leprosy Guild strives to bring an end to a very ancient disease that many people think is long gone.

In fact, leprosy persists as a disease of poverty rife among some of the most disadvantaged people in the world. More than four million people are affected by leprosy, and every two minutes someone is diagnosed with it, including 10,000 children each year. Twenty-three countries in the world today report leprosy – notably in Africa, Asia and Brazil – and millions of people live with its effects: blindness, clawed hands, amputated limbs and, above all, fear of being outcast. Leprosy is considered by many to be the result of sin.

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