11 July 2015

The XII International Leprosy Congress, New Delhi 20.2.1984

The scientific era of leprosy began in 1873 when Gerhard Armauer Hansen published his observation ofMycobacterium leprae in materials from leprosy patients. The principal opposition to Hansen's view that leprosy was an infectious disease came from Daniel Cornelius Daniclssen (his father-in-law) and Carl Wilhelm Boeck in "Traité de la Spedalskhed ou Elephantiasis des Grecs". Those who considered it a hereditary disease. This book was the standard reference book on leprosy from 1848 until the death of Danielssen in 1895.

The XII International Leprosy Congress was in New Delhi. Important Indian research work is recognized. The ICRC and the "'Mycobacterium w" vaccines are promising. Mother Teresa asks the members of the Congress to cure patients and to pray for them. Mahatma Gandhi was very fond of nursing leprosy patients. On one occasion he was invited to speak at the inauguration of a new hospital for leprosy patients, and he expressed his feeling that he would be much happier if he had been invited to the closure of a leprosy hospital. Now the Gandhi Leprosy Memorial continues his work.

The stamp, designed by J. P. Irani, depicts the emblem of the International Leprosy Association flanked by two faces of the globe.

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