Dwain Chambers' leprosy comments 'offensive and misleading' - group
by Jennifer Gold
Posted: Thursday, February 14, 2008, 12:44 (GMT)
The Leprosy Mission has denounced leprosy comments by disgraced British sprinter Dwain Chambers in the media this week as "offensive and misleading".
Speaking in The Sun newspaper, Chambers said he felt he was being treated like a "leper", referring to the cold shoulder he has received from the British athletic community since testing positive for the banned THG steroid in 2003, for which he served a two-year ban.
Chambers was reluctantly selected to represent Britain at the World Indoor Championships next month after winning Sunday's 60m trials. His athletic future looks bleak, however, after the chief organiser of Europe's athletic meetings said that athletes tarnished with doping bans would be blocked from competing at the events.
High profile athletics, including Dame Kelly Holmes and Liz McColgan, were among those calling on Chambers to abandon his return to athletics.
Chambers responded to critics, saying, "I'm being made to feel like a leper. A terrible stigma has been attached to me but people need to know I am clean."
The Leprosy Mission expressed its disappointment that no newspapers covering Chambers' comments remarked on "the fact that this is a hugely offensive statement".
One person is diagnosed with leprosy every two minutes and sufferers often face family and community rejection, and in some cases even divorce.
Chambers "probably also doesn't know that comments like his, especially when projected into the media, perpetuate the myths that people affected by leprosy should be isolated and that leprosy is highly contagious", the Leprosy Mission said.
The organisation stressed that leprosy is curable and that the risk of the disease spreading to another person disappears within two weeks of starting treatment, meaning that sufferers do not need to be isolated.
The Leprosy Mission also hit out at leading newspapers and news agencies for using inconsiderate headlines to cover Chambers' comments, including Sky News' "Dwain's 'Leper' feeling" and The Telegraph's "Don't treat me like a leper".
"Unlike Chambers, most people affected by leprosy don't get a chance to clear their names from stigma because of the ignorance that assumes they are 'dirty'," said the organisation.
"Again unlike Chambers, most people affected by leprosy live below the poverty line and so can't appeal to the public to respect them and treat them fairly.
"Considering leprosy still affects millions of people in the world today, it is outrageous that these statements are seen as acceptable in a country which is happily free of the disease and its consequences."
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Added: Friday, February 22, 2008, 17:23 (GMT)
Dwain deserves our support for bravely coming back. You can post supportibve comments at http://www.dwainchambers.co.uk/ - let's get behind him again.
geoff, wakefield
Added: Friday, February 15, 2008, 17:49 (GMT)
I don't know Dwain Chambers from Adam but this story is interesting for its use of language.
Mr. Chambers has used the word “leper” in a legitimate way (long usage in the English language and recognised by dictionary makers), with the meaning of an outcast – social, moral or what have you. The word may have fallen on hard times and into political incorrectness, but it is still a legitimate use.
That The Leprosy Mission (TLM) would use this occasion to advance its objectives is understandable, but regrettable. It’s a great and venerable organisation doing good work where it counts most – in the lives of the marginalised and the poor.
TLM’s remarks about Chambers have shades of high dudgeon though. To quote from your article:
Chambers “probably also doesn’t know that comments like his, especially when projected into the media, perpetuate the myths that people affected by leprosy should be isolated and that leprosy is highly contagious”, the Leprosy Mission said.
Is that so? Do Chambers’ remarks have that effect?
If Chambers can’t have fair treatment in the press at the hands of TLM then how can TLM expect fair treatment for its clients?
TLM might try to advance its cause by calling the disease by its modern name – Hansen’s disease. TLM perpetuates the stigma by using pre-scientific language to describe its mission.
For more information about Hansen’s Disease you can conveniently consult the website of Texas Department of State Health Services - Infectious Disease Control Unit - URL http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/hansens/
What is Hansen's Disease (HD)?
Hansen’s disease, erroneously associated with biblical leprosy, is a complex, chronic, infectious disease caused by a bacillus Mycobacterium leprae, which was discovered by Dr. Gerhard H.A. Hansen in Norway in 1873. This disproved theories that the disease was hereditary and made it possible to search for a cure. Because of the stigma associated with the word “leprosy”, the term Hansen’s Disease (named after the physician that discovered the bacillus), is frequently used today.
Bread Maker, Canada
