Leprosy and "a disease called leprosy".

Despite argu ments p u t forward in L eprosy R eview ( 1 9 7 2 ) 4 3 , 691 0 5 , t here is a case for retaining the subsfa nce of current term inology related to leprosy , part i cularly because of it s va lue to fund-raising. I n any eve n t , t h e p u b lic will not co-ope ra te in the adoption of new te rm inology , bu t find a vital role for t he l inguist ic associations of leprosy . Acknow ledging the nature of general knowledge a bout the "disease called leprosy", we have opport unit ies of educat ing t he pub l ic in both ende m ic and non-en d e m ic countries a bout the true nature of the disease. Iden tifying t he nature of sem ant ic co nfusion invo lved in t he Christian mot ivat ion towards leprosy su fferers, we may be a ble to influe nce the p ubl ic react ion t o leprosy by correct ing the o l d terminology in religious lex t s , a n d by referring to t he defined d isease as "act ual leprosy".