Leprosy eradicated? Hardly!

We were thrilled to be able to stay at SIHRLC Karigiri Hospital Guest House for nine nights during our tour. We were given the chance to have a look around the hospital itself on the first full day of our stay, and were able to pick up on its related activities throughout our stay, including the Shanthigramam Leprosy Village which we support. 

The Hospital seemed busier than when we were last there five years ago. The impression given to the West, by people "in the know", is that leprosy is not only curable, but that it is declining. What became abundantly clear to us as we went around Karigiri was that leprosy has NOT been eradicated , particularly in India. The Leprosy Mission, and other similar organisations are giving less support than previously, simply because it is believed that leprosy is now “a thing of the past”. It is not. 

Just six years ago, a lot of the routine leprosy care had been "shifted" to an outpatients department in Katpadi itself, and at that time the hospital at Karigiri was very much quieter. This has been viewed since by the Hospital Directorate as a retrograde move. 

Certainly, it was a step forward to take the care of leprosy patients into the community, which in itself showed a gradual understanding by the general public of the nature of the illness. But what it also meant was that those who cared for leprosy patients found they had to travel between two sites, rather than be based in one place. Thus an awful lot of time was wasted in travel, and resources were spread more-thinly as a result. 

The hope had been to to open-up the hospital to the care of diabetic patients. Some of the problems experienced by leprosy sufferers are common to diabetics also, as diabetes in India is fast-becoming an epic problem. There is still room for this to go on at Karigiri, as well as concentrating the effort in leprosy care back on the one site. 

Leprosy sufferers, if they seek treatment early enough, can do a lot to halt the spread of the disease in their own bodies, but still nobody knows how leprosy is contracted, and when it is, it can take up to ten years for the symptoms to show. Given that it is a disease which cuts people off from their families and friends, then a leprosy sufferer is not going to be in a hurry to mention it to others.

130,000 Indians are diagnosed with leprosy every year – more than in all other countries put together. It's partly because the country's population is so huge but also, campaigners say, because the Indian government, along with international donors, are neglecting the fight against the disease. Hundreds of thousands of Indians suffer from leprosy and its debilitating after-effects.

The Indian Government announced it had eliminated leprosy in 2005. According to a target set by the World Health Organisation, countries can announce 'elimination' when there are fewer than one case for every 10,000 people; so, given the scale of the country’s population, then perhaps they were right! Since then, the government has channelled funding previously dedicated to leprosy back into the general health system. Leprosy charities say that donations have fallen significantly, and some projects have had to close. Karigiri is hanging on “by the skin of its teeth”. Because of the present stance of the Indian Government, and, of course, since this is a “Christian” rather than a Government Hospital, there is no money forthcoming from that area!

A recent unpublished government study of the number of new leprosy cases in India suggests that the official figures don't show the true scale, and it may be much higher. In one Indian state, health workers found the number of people infected was five times the official estimate.

 A leaked copy obtained by Channel 4's Unreported World of a recent unpublished Indian Government study of the number of new leprosy cases in India suggests that the official figures don't show the true scale, and it may be much higher. This was the first time in six years health workers have carried out extensive surveys. In one Indian state, health workers found the number of people infected was five times the official estimate. The programme reporting on leprosy today in India, broadcast 25th March, 2011,  had this to say:

“ Many leprosy sufferers face lifelong rejection, stigma and discrimination. There's a widespread fear that the disease is highly contagious. In reality, 95% of humans are naturally immune, which is why campaigners call it the world's "least contagious communicable disease". While doctors are still unsure exactly how leprosy is spread (it's probably by airborne droplet infection such as coughing and sneezing), it is easily treated with highly effective drugs available for free thanks to collaboration between the WHO and the pharmaceutical company Novartis. Nevertheless, even those who have been cured and are no longer contagious are shunned by society and forced to live as outcasts. India has an estimated 1,000 leprosy colonies that are home to hundreds of thousands people living their lives in the disease's long dark shadow.”

We at St John’s have been privileged to play our small part in bringing dignity to the lives of a few leprosy-sufferers, in our support of Shanthigramam Leprosy Village. This is something which we have been able to do for the last ten years, and I hope that St John’s will continue to support it for many years to come. There are very few contributors to the work of Karigiri or to Shanthigrammam. There is, however, another group in the UK who are supporting both Karigiri / Shanthigramam and MBKGP Orphanage in Kasam – The Sebastian Hunter Memorial Trust, based in London and Vellore (“Seb’s Project”).

The trust has this to say about Karigiri – “When the hospital opened, 60% of its funding came from western donors. Now only 12% comes from foreign sources. As leprosy has almost completely disappeared from countries in Europe and North America, people in the West do not recognise its grave effect on people elsewhere. The hospital sees over 2,000 leprosy patients a year; though this is only a small proportion of those thought to suffer from the disease. Further funding for leprosy research is still needed – how leprosy is contracted is still unknown.”