| IDEA operates as an international network of support that seeks to
end the social isolation that is often associated with leprosy. Social isolation can be felt in the middle of a big city or
on a remote island. It is
experienced by those individuals who are newly diagnosed and reluctant
to tell their families they have the disease and it is experienced by
members of the older generation, who have lived most of their lives in
physical isolation and, due to rapidly declining numbers, often feel
more alone now than ever. |
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"There
is an instant feeling of sharing and understanding --
Yasuji Hirasawa, Japan |
| Huang Jiangwen, China, and Miyoji Morimoto, Japan,
meet at an IDEA Workshop in China.
Photo by Pamela Parlapiano |
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