title: Needing to know? Ethical dilemmas in leprosy treatment and control.
abstract: A young man presents to your local clinic in a leprosy endemic country with a small patch of discoloured skin on his right forearm. The diagnosis is clear. You start to explain, but the man stops you: he doesn't want to hear more, just requests the medicine. But you are 'in conflict', and not just by the desire to discuss the situation more fully with your patient before prescribing a drug. The local public health team, of which you are a part, is currently evaluating the impact on the community's health of a patient education programme which necessitates informing all new leprosy cases of their diagnosis. What should you do? And can bio-ethics help?
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kessel
mesh_terms: D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D014342:Truth Disclosure