Leprosy Colonies Leprosy Hospital Background www.dryaminleprosy.blogspot.com

It was reported that Leprosy Control had been introduced since the era of Dutch occupation in Indonesia. There was no specific drugs for treatment at that time. The endeavours were started with collecting the leprosy patients, put them in the temporary settlements for isolation and general treatment. The purpose of isolation was also to protect the transmission of the disease and for the social economic aids. It was a fact that many leprosy patients were found through out the country. The authorithy then established many permanent settlements and leprosaria (leprosy colonies).

After the independence of Indonesia, the government established the institution for leprosy control programme and started with mono DDS for its treatment. Encouraging the management of leprosy patients by upgrading the settlements (leprosy colony), establish special clinics and also erected some leprosy hospitals

After years many patients has been hospitalized then the government found difficulties to send them back to their homes. It was happened due to the high stigma and leprophobia amongst the community. The hospital became overcrouded due to social problems.

The government is aware of the complexity of leprosy problems, which is not only in medical part but include socio-economic problems. The Ministry of Health alone cannot solve these problems. Therefore the government established Intersectoral Board to handle leprosy problems compherehensively in 1979. The government through the Intersectoral Board, instructs that the leprosy problems should be handled comprehensively. The members of this board consist of Ministry of Home Affairs, Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Transmigration, Ministry of Education and Culture and Ministry of Religion. The member roles of the Intersectoral Board were formulated and evaluated periodically. In reality, the Intetrsectoral Board was not function well as expected.

Since the introduction of MDT programme in Indonesia many leprosy patients has been cured. The registered prevalence rate has been fallen down from year to year and on July 2000, Indonesia has achieved elimination of leprosy national wide (registered prevalence rate less tahn 1/10,000 pop).  

After decades of the leprosy control programme, it is important to know, how is the situation of leprosy colonies/settlement/leprosy hospital today?  To describe the situation, the inventory of Leprosy colonies /Settlements, Leprosy Hospitals has been conducted in 2003.

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25. Leprosy Control Leprosy Colony or Leprosarium www.dryaminleprosy.blogspot.com

Leprosaria19  (leprosy colony)

As described above, leprosy control has been introduced during the era of Dutch occupation in Indonesia. There was no specific drug for treatment available at that time. The endeavours were started with taking the people with leprosy out of their villages and putting them into temporary settlements for isolation and general treatment. The purpose of isolation was to stop the transmission of the disease and to aid the leprosy affected people social economically. As many people affected by leprosy were found throughout the country, the authorities then established many permanent settlements and leprosaria.

After the independence of Indonesia, the government started a leprosy control program with mono DDS treatment. The management of people affected by leprosy was improved by upgrading the settlements, establishing special clinics and erecting some leprosy hospitals. But after years of hospitalisation the government faced difficulties to send people back to their homes. Also the high stigma and leprophobia amongst communities prevented reintegration. The hospitals became overcrowded due to these social problems.

With the further discoveries in leprosy treatment, people could then be cured with MDT consisting of Rifampicine, Lamprene and DDS. The new policy was now that people with leprosy should not be isolated anymore. People without medical indication should be discharged from the hospitals. But in reality, the majority of people did not want to go back.To overcome the over-crowdedness of the hospitals the government needed to start resettlement programs. Thelocations of the new settlements could either be in the surroundings of the hospitals or far away from the hospitals.

The government was aware of the complexity of the leprosy problem, not only in the medical field (control and rehabilitation), but also socio-economically. The Ministry of Health alone could not solve all problems. Therefore in 1979 the government established the National Inter-sector Leprosy Control Committee to handle leprosy problems comprehensively.

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