The Leprosy Mission world
Case Study: Niger
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Family Matters
Hassane lives in a village in rural Niger. Hassane and his twin brother Housseni travelled 300kms to receive treatment at CSL Danja, a hospital supported by The Leprosy Mission.
At the hospital, they were both diagnosed with leprosy. Thankfully they had sought treatment early so only Hassane had some loss of feeling in his hands, due to nerve damage caused by leprosy.
To cure their leprosy, the brothers were given Multi Drug therapy (MDT) for a year. Unfortunately after completion of his medication, Hassane continued to develop leprosy complications. He was admitted as an inpatient to CSL Danja several times. On one of those occasions, due to a delay in coming forward for treatment, Hassane developed some clawing of his fingers on his right hand. This meant that his fingers turned inwards and he couldn’t straighten them.
At CSL Danja, Hassane received medication to treat the leprosy reaction, he was given physiotherapy for his clawed fingers and was taught how to protect his hand from further damage. Hassane became very good at explaining to other leprosy-affected patients how to look after their insensitive hands or feet.
Eventually, due to the care he received at CSL Danja, Hassane returned to his village with no major physical impairments.
A year later, staff at Danja were sad and shocked to see Hassane return to the hospital looking weak and frail, with a fractured wrist. He was diagnosed with severe tuberculosis. He was admitted to the ward and his brother Housseni came to Danja to look after him.
Through the caring work of the hospital staff, Hassane gradually grew much stronger. After several months of treatment he was able to return to his village much healthier; he had put on weight and returned to the happy, smiling Hassane that the staff knew.
Recently Hassane went back to Danja to receive medication for a minor ailment. He greeted the staff with enthusiasm and expressed how grateful he was for the care he had received at the hospital.
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