These women patients at the hospital will shortly be released and each will receive a certificate of good health testifying that she is free of the disease. Fear and suspicion are two of the gravest obstacles the discharged patient must face. Scars on women's faces are not ravages left by leprosy but are a beauty custom of their tribe. Present-day treatment of leprosy, which employs traditional chaulmoogra oil in conjunction with modern sulphone drugs, has met with great success.

Millions of the world's people suffer from a dread disease which has been the scourge of mankind since Biblical times. But today, science and a dedicated army of medical workers throughout the world are united in a vigorous crusade to bring new hope and health to the hitherto feared and shunned band of the earth's "untouchables"-- the world's 5 million lepers. The disease, which gets its foothold wherever conditions are below par, has claimed its greatest number of victims in Africa and certain Asiatic countries. A careful, systematic health check of native populations is helping to identify sufferers in the early stages of the disease when treatment is most effective. Canadian health worker, Jean Horning, above, greets a native mother and child who have come from their village for a medical check-up at the Sudan Mission Leper Hospital in Northern Nigeria.

These women patients at the hospital will shortly be released and each will receive a certificate of good health testifying that she is free of the disease. Fear and suspicion are two of the gravest obstacles the discharged patient must face. Scars on women's faces are not ravages left by leprosy but are a beauty custom of their tribe. Present-day treatment of leprosy, which employs traditional chaulmoogra oil in conjunction with modern sulphone drugs, has met with great success.