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GLRA launches Match Box Campaign 2000

KARACHI: The German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA), the main donor of the leprosy control programme in Pakistan for the last 40 years, has now launched Match Box Campaign 2000 in collaboration with Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC). MALC has already brought leprosy under control in Pakistan and has now accepted a new challenge Ñ control of tuberculosis, the most rapid killer disease today.

The MALC Match Box campaign is being launched with a view to create mass health awareness and to generate funds for a humanitarian cause. This campaign will be launched in the form of a competition in 1,000 schools of Karachi.

Special MALC teams will visit the participating schools informing children about leprosy and TB. Children can then impart this information to their friends, family members and neighbours. Besides spreading health awareness, children will be asked to fill their Match Boxes with little items and collect sponsored donations for these items.

At the end of the Competition two final winers will be awarded a free trip to Disneyland, Paris. The final winners will be 'star captain' for collecting maximum donation and 'star commander' for collecting maximum number of items.

This health education will help people realise that proper and timely diagnosis of leprosy and TB can prevent death whereas irregular and unsupervised treatment aggravates the problems further. The campaign will further help alleviate the stigma attached to these diseases.ÑPR