Today I finish reading Victoria Hislop's novel 'The Island' and recall the patron saint of lepers:
Giles of Provence, Hermit
Giles was a hermit who died in about the year 710. He founded a monastery at the place now called Saint-Gilles in Provence which became an important place on the pilgrimage routes both to Compostela and to the Holy Land. His care for the wounded and those crippled by disease resulted in his becoming the patron saint of such people, particularly of those with leprosy. Leprosy sufferers were not permitted to enter towns and cities and therefore often congregated on the outskirts, where churches built to meet their needs were regularly dedicated to Giles.
The fifth book in the Brother Cadfael murder mystery series by Ellis Peters is titled The Leper of Saint Giles, set partly in the 'hospital' and chapel of St Giles founded by the monks of Shrewsbury Abbey half a mile from their own enclave. That chapel is now a parish church in its own right, retaining a Norman doorway and a 12th century south wall with a piscina.
Showing posts with label leprosy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leprosy. Show all posts
Monday, September 01, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
LEPRA
LEPRA
28 MiddleboroughColchesterEssexCO1 1TG
Tel: 01206 216700
Fax: 01206 762151
Web: www.lepra.org.uk
Since 1924, LEPRA has been caring for and curing people of leprosy with the aim of eradicating this disease. The development of a simple and cheap treatment called MDT in 1982(multidrug therapy) now makes this objective possible. Early identification and treatment is essential in order to prevent patients from becoming permanently disfigured or disabled. LEPRA works in Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique. Other project activities apart from treatment include the following:
Provision of support to patient groups
Prevention of disability activities
Social and economic rehabilitation
Capacity building
LEPRA is a small organisation of nearly 70 UK and over 400 local overseas staff working on its own direct projects and supporting some government and NGO leprosy control programmes throughout the world. Although LEPRA's prime objective is the eradication of leprosy, it is also concerned about the impact of allied diseases such as TB, HIV/AIDS and malaria. With over three million deaths annually, TB is the largest killer amongst these. Where appropriate, therefore, TB control is being added to existing programmes.LEPRA also funds medical research aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of treatment and finding new methods of combating the effects of the disease. LEPRA has no political or religious affiliations and the vast majority of funding is through public donations. This is for overseas projects and not projects operated in the United Kingdom.
Leprosy Today
Today, the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy is easy and most endemic countries are striving to fully integrate leprosy services into existing general health services.This is especially important for those under-served and marginalised communities most at risk from leprosy, often the poorest of the poor.
Access to information, diagnosis and treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT) remain key elements in the strategy to eliminate the disease as a public health problem, defined as reaching a prevalence of less than 1 leprosy case per 10,000 population. MDT treatment has been made available by WHO free of charge to all patients worldwide since 1995, and provides a simple yet highly effective cure for all types of leprosy.
According to official reports received during 2008 from 118 countries and territories, the global registered prevalence of leprosy at the beginning of 2008 stood at 212,802 cases, while the number of new cases detected during 2007 was 254,525 (excluding the small number of cases in Europe). The number of new cases detected globally has fallen by 11,100 cases (a 4% decrease) during 2007 compared with 2006.
Most previously highly endemic countries have now reached elimination (defined as a registered prevalence rate of <1 case/10 000 population). During 2007, both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique reached this important stage. Those few countries that remain are very close to eliminating the disease. However, pockets of high endemicity still remain in some areas of Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Republic of Tanzania. These countries remain highly committed to eliminating the disease, and continue to intensify their leprosy control activities.
Information campaigns about leprosy in high risk areas are crucial so that patients and their families, who were historically ostracized from their communities, are encouraged to come forward and receive treatment. The most effective way of preventing disabilities in leprosy, as well as preventing further transmission of the disease, lies in early diagnosis and treatment with MDT.
28 MiddleboroughColchesterEssexCO1 1TG
Tel: 01206 216700
Fax: 01206 762151
Web: www.lepra.org.uk
Since 1924, LEPRA has been caring for and curing people of leprosy with the aim of eradicating this disease. The development of a simple and cheap treatment called MDT in 1982(multidrug therapy) now makes this objective possible. Early identification and treatment is essential in order to prevent patients from becoming permanently disfigured or disabled. LEPRA works in Angola, Bangladesh, Brazil, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique. Other project activities apart from treatment include the following:
Provision of support to patient groups
Prevention of disability activities
Social and economic rehabilitation
Capacity building
LEPRA is a small organisation of nearly 70 UK and over 400 local overseas staff working on its own direct projects and supporting some government and NGO leprosy control programmes throughout the world. Although LEPRA's prime objective is the eradication of leprosy, it is also concerned about the impact of allied diseases such as TB, HIV/AIDS and malaria. With over three million deaths annually, TB is the largest killer amongst these. Where appropriate, therefore, TB control is being added to existing programmes.LEPRA also funds medical research aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of treatment and finding new methods of combating the effects of the disease. LEPRA has no political or religious affiliations and the vast majority of funding is through public donations. This is for overseas projects and not projects operated in the United Kingdom.
Leprosy Today
Today, the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy is easy and most endemic countries are striving to fully integrate leprosy services into existing general health services.This is especially important for those under-served and marginalised communities most at risk from leprosy, often the poorest of the poor.
Access to information, diagnosis and treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT) remain key elements in the strategy to eliminate the disease as a public health problem, defined as reaching a prevalence of less than 1 leprosy case per 10,000 population. MDT treatment has been made available by WHO free of charge to all patients worldwide since 1995, and provides a simple yet highly effective cure for all types of leprosy.
According to official reports received during 2008 from 118 countries and territories, the global registered prevalence of leprosy at the beginning of 2008 stood at 212,802 cases, while the number of new cases detected during 2007 was 254,525 (excluding the small number of cases in Europe). The number of new cases detected globally has fallen by 11,100 cases (a 4% decrease) during 2007 compared with 2006.
Most previously highly endemic countries have now reached elimination (defined as a registered prevalence rate of <1 case/10 000 population). During 2007, both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique reached this important stage. Those few countries that remain are very close to eliminating the disease. However, pockets of high endemicity still remain in some areas of Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Republic of Tanzania. These countries remain highly committed to eliminating the disease, and continue to intensify their leprosy control activities.
Information campaigns about leprosy in high risk areas are crucial so that patients and their families, who were historically ostracized from their communities, are encouraged to come forward and receive treatment. The most effective way of preventing disabilities in leprosy, as well as preventing further transmission of the disease, lies in early diagnosis and treatment with MDT.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Leper Colony
A leper colony is a community designed for the purpose of quarantining people with leprosy, a chronic condition caused by a bacterial infection. Formally organized leper colonies have existed since at least the Middle Ages, with some leper communities isolating themselves by choice prior to the medieval period. A handful of leper colonies can still be seen around the world, although access to such colonies is no longer restricted, and the occupants are free to leave, should they so desire.
The idea of isolating people with leprosy, better known as Hansen's Disease, stemmed from a fear of people with disfigurements which was extremely widespread in the Middle Ages.
Medieval society also feared lepers because people thought the condition was contagious. Leper colonies were designed to keep lepers isolated inside so that they would not come into contact with the rest of society, although an imperfect understanding of leprosy led to the internment of people with a range of medical conditions, not just leprosy, in such colonies historically.
In the 20th century, research on leprosy revealed that it is, in fact, very difficult to get Hansen's Disease, and the bulk of the world's population is immune. Furthermore, researchers discovered a range of treatment options for the disease. As a result, many leper colonies closed, because there was no longer a perceived need for such facilities. However, some communities of people with leprosy chose to remain at the sites of their former colonies with friends, family members, and a familiar environment.
The conditions in a leper colony could be quite varied. Some colonies were essentially like small villages, and although they happened to be in remote, isolated locations, the residents experienced fairly pleasant living conditions. In other cases, a leper colony could be a very grim place, with lack of access to suitable housing, poor conditions for farming, and limited opportunities for support from the surrounding community. In both cases, the fact that residents were not allowed to leave the leper colony would have been chafing, to say the least.
Historically, if a leper needed to venture out of the leper colony for any reason, he or she would need to ring a bell or wear some sort of noisemaking object to alert people, much like one puts a bell on a cat. The idea was that citizens who feared infection could scatter at the sound, although the experience was undoubtedly also designed to be humiliating to discourage lepers from trading with the outside world and wandering in the general community.
Lepers were also forced to use different money than the rest of the population, and most leper colonies relied heavily upon charity from religious organizations and friendly citizens to survive.
Spinalonga
The island of Spinalonga (official name: Kalidon) is located at the eastern section of Crete, near the town of Elounda. The name of the island, Spinalonga, is Venetian, meaning "long thorn", and has roots in the period of Venetian occupation. This location is also the setting for Victoria Hislop's bestselling novel The Island and Werner Herzog's experimental short film Last Words.
The island was used as a leper colony, from 1903 to 1957. It is notable for being one of the last active leper colonies in Europe. The last inhabitant, a priest, left the island in 1962. This was to maintain the religious tradition of the Greek Orthodox church, in which a buried person has to be commemorated 40 days, 6 months, 1, 3 and 5 years after their death. Other leper colonies that have survived Spinalonga include Tichilesti in Eastern Romania, Fontilles in Spain and Talsi in Latvia. As of 2002, few lazarettos remain in Europe.
There were two entrances to Spinalonga, one being the lepers' entrance, a tunnel known as Dante's Gate. This was so named because the patients did not know what was going to happen to them once they arrived. However, once on the island they received food, water, medical attention and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to Crete's leprosy patients, as they mostly lived in the area's caves, away from civilization.
The idea of isolating people with leprosy, better known as Hansen's Disease, stemmed from a fear of people with disfigurements which was extremely widespread in the Middle Ages.
Medieval society also feared lepers because people thought the condition was contagious. Leper colonies were designed to keep lepers isolated inside so that they would not come into contact with the rest of society, although an imperfect understanding of leprosy led to the internment of people with a range of medical conditions, not just leprosy, in such colonies historically.
In the 20th century, research on leprosy revealed that it is, in fact, very difficult to get Hansen's Disease, and the bulk of the world's population is immune. Furthermore, researchers discovered a range of treatment options for the disease. As a result, many leper colonies closed, because there was no longer a perceived need for such facilities. However, some communities of people with leprosy chose to remain at the sites of their former colonies with friends, family members, and a familiar environment.
The conditions in a leper colony could be quite varied. Some colonies were essentially like small villages, and although they happened to be in remote, isolated locations, the residents experienced fairly pleasant living conditions. In other cases, a leper colony could be a very grim place, with lack of access to suitable housing, poor conditions for farming, and limited opportunities for support from the surrounding community. In both cases, the fact that residents were not allowed to leave the leper colony would have been chafing, to say the least.
Historically, if a leper needed to venture out of the leper colony for any reason, he or she would need to ring a bell or wear some sort of noisemaking object to alert people, much like one puts a bell on a cat. The idea was that citizens who feared infection could scatter at the sound, although the experience was undoubtedly also designed to be humiliating to discourage lepers from trading with the outside world and wandering in the general community.
Lepers were also forced to use different money than the rest of the population, and most leper colonies relied heavily upon charity from religious organizations and friendly citizens to survive.
Spinalonga
The island of Spinalonga (official name: Kalidon) is located at the eastern section of Crete, near the town of Elounda. The name of the island, Spinalonga, is Venetian, meaning "long thorn", and has roots in the period of Venetian occupation. This location is also the setting for Victoria Hislop's bestselling novel The Island and Werner Herzog's experimental short film Last Words.
The island was used as a leper colony, from 1903 to 1957. It is notable for being one of the last active leper colonies in Europe. The last inhabitant, a priest, left the island in 1962. This was to maintain the religious tradition of the Greek Orthodox church, in which a buried person has to be commemorated 40 days, 6 months, 1, 3 and 5 years after their death. Other leper colonies that have survived Spinalonga include Tichilesti in Eastern Romania, Fontilles in Spain and Talsi in Latvia. As of 2002, few lazarettos remain in Europe.
There were two entrances to Spinalonga, one being the lepers' entrance, a tunnel known as Dante's Gate. This was so named because the patients did not know what was going to happen to them once they arrived. However, once on the island they received food, water, medical attention and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to Crete's leprosy patients, as they mostly lived in the area's caves, away from civilization.
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