Karigiri Leprosy Hospital

The full name of this important hospital is the The Schieffelin Institute of Health Research & Training Centre and it has its own website at http://www.karigiri.org/ It was started over 50 years ago for patients suffering from the dreaded disease of leprosy. Today it is 150 bedded General Hospital but it still has a special focus on leprosy and is famous throughout the world - materials are sent to the laboratories here for diagnosis from most of South East Asia.

The motto of the hospital is : "Transforming lives, especially those affected by leprosy, through wholistic health and healing in the spirit of Christ."

What is leprosy?

Leprosy is a dreadful skin and nerve disease caused by a bacteria known as Mycobacterium leprae. The bacteria damages hair follicles, sweat glands and nerve endings which means that sufferers can loose their hair, or have discoloured patches on their skin where they cannot feel anything at all. More dangerous though is when the nerves attack larger "trunk" nerves in the body. This can cause "claw" hand, "drop" foot, or staring eyes. On the face this may mean that the bridge of the nose sinks or collapses, or they get thick folds of skin which make them look like a lion. Often leprosy sufferers will hurt themselves badly because they cannot feel anything with their hands or feet - for example they could knock boiling water over themselves or get a splinter in their foot and not know anything was wrong until they spotted the wound. Can leprosy be cured? When someone is diagnosed with leprosy they can be given drugs which will halt its spread, but someone will not be able to grow back a nose, for example. The hospital is able to do a great deal of work with physiotherapy and in providing patients with special clothing or tools which can help them use their hands or walk again. Read about one patient's story. These workers at the hospital are making soft shoes for leprosy patients. Each shoe is made to the exact shape of the patient's foot. The hospital has its own small factory for making the high quality soft rubber it needs for this process. The rubber is the best that can be bought in India for this purpose - so the hospital makes enough to sell to other leprosy centres in the country.   The hospital runs a counselling service for patients and their families - this is important because many people fear leprosy, and as soon as they know someone has the disease they will try to throw them out of the village or sack them from their job. Patients and their families can feel very isolated. Some time ago the World Health Organisation announced that leprosy had been wiped out in India. This is not true. Leprosy still occurs in India, but the number of people suffering serious symptoms has dropped, because doctors like those at Karigiri have worked tirelessly running clinics in the villages and diagnosed the disease early so that people can be treated before it gets a serious hold. When WHO announced that there was no more leprosy, many charities withdrew their funding for the village clinics - and this means that leprosy will have the chance to "stage a comeback".

A Training Hospital

Karigiri is an important training hospital. It trains both doctors and health workers in various aspects of leprosy. Many of the trainees are volunteers sponnsored by the World Health Organization and other international organizations. Apart from the regular courses, there are also special courses for Government staff. The hospital is also a nurses' training centre.

A Hospital for the surrounding villages

Karigiri offers a daily outpatients clinic to the surrounding villages for over 30 kilometres around. Although it is hoped taht patients will be able to pay the small fees involved in getting treatment, as a Christian hospital, the staff make sure that nobody is turned away just because they are poor. The hospital treats about 5,000 outpatients a day!

Shantigaram - "the Village of Peace"

These two photographs were taken at Shantigaram, "the Village of Peace" which is run by Karigiri Hospital. This is a retirement village for 20 leprosy patients who have nobody to look after them at home. Each patient hs their own room, there is a washing and toilet block and a communal kitchen. They keep cows for milk, and have a mango grove and a vegetable garden to look after. All the different items in the village have been designed so that the patients cannot hurt themselves - for example all the drinking cups are put in protective basket weave holders so that they do not burn themselves without knowing it. The warden described the village as "peace with dignity". It is very popular and has a waiting list for places. It is a unique project.