Taslima Akter is 24 years old, and married with an 11 month old daughter. She is in her final year of studying for a qualification in traditional medicine. She has been working with leprosy patients with Lepra since 2012. In 2017 she noticed loss of sensation on her left little toe. Her diagnosis of leprosy was confirmed by the staff at the subdistrict health complex and she was given a 6 month course of antibiotics. She took the medicine secretly because she feared rejection by society here. Her family members then found out about her diagnosis but they accepted her disease because they knew about leprosy as she worked for Lepra for a long time. She took her antibiotics and is completely cured with no complications. Now she is married, and her husband knows that she works for leprosy patients as a federation leader. But the other members of her in laws house don’t know about her disease. She is an advocate for leprosy patients and fights for their rights. She educates people to understand about leprosy and that patients should be treated normally. She stands beside patients to support them. She is proud of her education because she noticed her symptoms early and took the treatment. The biggest challenge she faces is to make people understand about this disease.
09/04/2023 Bogura, Bangladesh
Photo by Tom Bradley, writing by Prof Diana Lockwoood