Museum for Leprosy hospital old equipment

Ridma Dissanayake

The Health Ministry will build a museum at the Hendala Leprosy Hospital premises to preserve the old equipment used to treat Leprosy patients, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Palitha Maheepala said.

The Hendala Leprosy hospital was the only hospital in the country which treated Leprosy patients, he added.

The Hendala hospital was well-known as Asia’s first orphanage for children with the disease and as a place where leprosy patients were treated in the past. This hospital was established by the Dutch in 1708.

Maheepala was addressing the national program held to mark 2011 World Leprosy Day organized by the Health Education Bureau (HEB), last Friday.

The whole world celebrates World Leprosy Day on January 30 every year.

The Health Ministry conducted a public clinic in collaboration with the HEB at Milagiriya temple in Polonnaruwa, to mark the 2011 World Leprosy Day.

The HEB has organized a media seminar and a study visit to the Leprosy hospital for journalists simultaneously celebrating the World Leprosy Day. In Sri Lanka there was a very low number of Leprosy cases. But still some people were coming with deformities associated with Leprosy, Anti Leprosy Director W K Wickramasinghe said.

”Most cases were reported from the Western Province. Treatment was freely available throughout the country through skin clinics. You can get treatment from the Central Leprosy Clinic in room number 21 at the National Hospital as well,” he noted.

According to hospital sources, Sri Lanka’s first Leprosy patient was identified from Colombo in 1690. It was also believed that Leprosy was carried to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese.

They noted that Leprosy was an incurable disease and Leprosy patients succumbed to their disease. Whereas now it could be treated. It was not a dangerous illness anymore.

There were 45 patients receiving treatment and 47 health workers at the Hendala hospital.