A physician from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital on Thursday urged the Department of Labor and Employment as well as local governments to consider the employment of those who have already been treated and completely cured of leprosy.
At the World Neglected Tropical Disease forum in Quezon City, Dr. Belen Dofitas, also the president of board of trustees of the Philippine Leprosy Mission Inc. (PLMI), said “they (patients) really wish that they will not be stigmatized.”
“A lot of them have the infection during childhood. And they have been healed. Let us consider them fit for work,” she added.
She lamented that many of the former leprosy patients are still capable of being gainfully employed despite several physical deformities but there are some employers who would reject and discriminate them.
“Let us give them jobs that suit their capability and skills,” she told the Manila Standard.