At a snapshot:
There was no leprosy hospital / leprosy colony found. An academic nurse institution was presence in the ex-leprosy hospital complex. Some buildings of the hospital were renovated and used by the academic nurse institution. We found Kawatuna HC just beside the nurse academy. There was no more ex-leprosy patients staying here.
Short history of the hospital:
The following is a short history of the leprosy hospital stated as saying by Mr. Sudin 57 years old, which was a Kawatuna village administrator from 1080 to 1993.
A former Kawatuna Leprosy Hospital, which was erected in 1930, inhabited with leprosy patients transferred from Loli leprosy village. During the Dutch occupation, Loli village was used as leprosy settlement about 11 km from Palu the capital of Central Sulawesi province. There were about 80 leprosy patients inhabiting the Loli village at that time. After some years, the people surrounding the settlement were complaining about the presence of leprosy patients in Loli village, which was located on seashore. According to the people believes the fishes in sea could be infected by leprosy disease transferred from the leprosy patients. Therefore many people of Palu did not like to eat the fishes from the sea.
The local authority had to find a place for the leprosy patients, which it should be far from the sea. A leprosy hospital then was erected in Kawatuna village on a highly place, which is about 5 km from Palu. In 1930 all leprosy patients in Loli village was transferred toKawatuna Leprosy Hospital. Stigma and leprophobia was very high amongst the community. The Kawatuna leprosy hospital was isolated from the people surrounding with a high wall. The leprosy patients were not allowed to go out of the hospital to communicate with normal people surrounding. The government provided all their living needs. The leprosy hospital has a compound about 3 hectares area of and. Some leprosy patients were staying with their family in the compound and some in the wards. According to Mr Sudin, it was stated that about 86 people were voters from the hospital during the general election in 1977. In 1982 the government introduced MDT in Palu. The health workers made campaigns that leprosy can be cured leprosy should not be isolated. In 1983 anIndonesia doctor examined all leprosy patients in the hospital. The doctor had made a conclusion that all leprosy patients in the hospital were cured. They should not be isolated and they can go back to their family at their hometowns. Based on the doctor recommendations, the local authority then step by step transferred out the ex-leprosy patients from the hospital. In 1984 all ex-leprosy patients had successfully been transferred from the hospital and the Kawatuna Leprosy Hospital was officially declared closed.
In 1991 a nurse school was erected in the ex-leprosy hospital area. A Kawatuna HC also was erected just beside the nurse school in 1991. In 1999 the nurse school then changed to a nurse academy institution
