Health campaigners call for an end to the use of the word leper

Derogatory use of the L-word" has increased during Covid and is said to be further marginalising people with the curable disease

Health campaigners are calling for an end to the use of the word leper, saying the language frequently used by politicians and others during the pandemic has made people with leprosy even more marginalised.

The metaphor of the socially outcast leper" has been used often, whether in media reports on stigma against early Covid-19 patients or by politicians in Italy and Brazil complaining about being seen as leper colonies". Campaigners now want an end to the use of what they call the L-word".