Leprosy hospital, patients in poor state
Leprosy hospital, patients in poor state
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
It had been a year since The Jakarta Post visited Sitanala
Leprosy Hospital on Jl. Dr. Sitanala in Neglasari, here, and the
condition of the hospital was worse than before.
The existing buildings and treatment halls in the 54-hectare
complex were deteriorating, with wild grass growing around
several unused buildings. Some former leprosy patients, who live
inside the complex, were busily planting vegetables on vacant
land.
To minimize its operational costs, the hospital management was
forced to close down four of 14 treatment halls.
"The hospital was built in 1951. But, the government has not
renovated it since, we just repair what is damaged," hospital
deputy director JP Handoko Soewono said recently.
He said the hospital received some Rp 5 billion
(US$548,847.42) annually from the government, but the money was
just enough to cover operational costs.
Handoko said, since most leprosy patients at the hospital were
from poor families, the hospital used most of the money to
subsidize their treatment.
"A patient can spend up to three years in hospital before they
are really cured," he said.
The hospital plans to focus on research, development and
rehabilitation, in line with the Ministry of Health's decision to
integrate services for lepers in public health centers and
general hospitals at regental and provincial levels.
The hospital offers services to the public to supplement its
income by operating an Intensive Care Unit and an Emergency Room.
"However, the public is reluctant to use these facilities.
They are afraid, due to the stigma attached to the hospital," he
said.
Former leprosy patients are attached to the hospital and about
1,000 of them have stayed on, living on a seven-hectare plot of
land within the complex.
Satiri, 46, was committed to the hospital in 1993 and cured in
1995. He said he did not want to return home to Cirebon, West
Java, because he believed his family and neighbors would reject
him.
"I can't convince them that I am cured. They will just look at
my physical defects and stay away from me," he said.
Satiri, who married a former leprosy patient, is cultivating
vegetables inside the hospital complex to sell at the nearby
market.
To supplement his income, he washes the clothes of other
patients or sells them items such as soap, toothpaste or
cigarettes.