Leper colony

  A leper colony or leprosarium is a place to quarantine people with leprosy (Hansen's disease) from the rest of the population.

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History

Leper colonies or houses often ran along monastic lines, and became popular in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India. Historically, leprosy was greatly feared because it caused visible disfigurement and disability, was incurable, and was commonly believed to be highly contagious. A leper colony administered by a Christian religious order was often called a lazar house, after the parable of Lazarus the Beggar.

While some colonies were located on islands or in remote locations in order to ensure quarantine, some leper houses were placed on main roads, where donations would be made for their upkeep. Debate exists over the conditions found within historical leper colonies; while they are currently thought to have been grim and neglected places, there are some indications that life within a leper colony or house was no worse than the life of other, non-quarantined individuals. There is even doubt that the current definition of leprosy can be retrospectively applied to the medieval condition. What was classified as leprosy then covers a wide range of skin conditions that would be classified as distinct afflictions today.

Some leper colonies issued their own money (such as tokens), in the belief that allowing lepers to handle regular money could spread the disease^{[citation needed]}. Lepers were also subject to sumptuary laws, not very effective, and were made to carry horns or rattles when outside the colony, to warn others of their approach. The discovery of an effective treatment for leprosy in 1982, combined with the realization that leprosy was not a particularly communicable disease (roughly 95% of the population is naturally immune) led to the decline of leper colonies around the world. Some colonies remain in areas where treatment for leprosy is not universally available, for example on Culion Island in the Palawan Archipelago, Philippines; or where traditional attitudes regarding leprosy as 'unclean' have discouraged re-integration. Famous or long-surviving leper colonies were located in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, USA; Okinawa, Japan; Chacachacare, Trinidad and Tobago; Spinalonga, Crete; Carville, Louisiana, USA; Zoquiapan, Mexico; Losheng Sanatorium in Taiwan; Sorokdo Island in South Korea, Derby on the coast of Western Australia, and Fantome Island in the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon on the coast of North Queensland, Australia.

Political aspects

In 2001, government-run leper colonies in Japan came under judicial scrutiny, leading to the determination that the Japanese government had mistreated the patients, and the District Court ordered Japan to pay compensation to former patients.^[1] In 2002, a formal inquiry into these colonies was set up, and in March of 2005 the policy was strongly denounced. "Japan's policy of absolute quarantine... did not have any scientific grounds."^[2] The inquiry denounced not only the government and the doctors that are involved with the policy but also the court that repeatedly ruled in the favour of the government when the policy was challenged, as well as the media, which failed to report the plight of the victims. There are about 7,000 records of forced abortion and sterilisation. In some instances, it was reported that babies were suffocated after birth.^[3]

See also

• Lazaretto
• Jen Robinson

References