Leprosy

Leprosy Leprosy has a history of more than 3000 years. It is a lethal disease that ravaged parts of Norway as an epidemic in the 19th Century. It used to be regarded a personal tragedy for those struck down by it, but in the 1840s it was made a public concern in Norway. New hospitals were built, research started. In 1854 Norway got a Chief Medical Officer for Leprosy, and in 1856 he founded the National Leprosy Registry, first-ever of its kind in the World. The aim was to map, research, understand and finally remove the disease. They succeeded! In 1873 Gerhard Henrik Armauer- Hansen discovered the Mycobacterium leprae and thus could explane how and why the disease spread. The number of new cases fell rapidly in Norway, and the disease came under controll! These are the subjects of this book. In 2001 the Norwegian Leprosy Archives were included on the UNESCO's list Memory of the World, to honour the Norwegian efforts in the fight against a disease that still hurts millions of people.