Bryan College Triangle

by John Moore
Staff Writer

The largest community of leprosy patients in the Middle East may soon be dispersed.

Yolande Knell of the BBC, in a One-Minute World News report from Feb. 7, informs us that Abou Zaabal is the last leper colony in Egypt. While built by the government in the 1930s to house leprosy patients and to treat them, it is now likely going to be closed. All treatments for the disease can now be given at local hospitals.

Good news: after nearly 80 years, all lepers may now return home. Bad news: those who live there are not in favor of the closing of Abou Zaabal; it has become their home.

In the 20th century, many lepers were forced to come here, isolation being a primary treatment of leprosy (Hansen’s Disease), for which no medical cure was known. Now, Abou Zaabal has become something of a “refuge” for its residents, said one man interviewed by Knell.

The effects of leprosy are noticeable, especially in patients who have been ill with the disease for years. Affecting the nerves, the disease causes loss of feeling in which- ever areas of the body it resides.

Pain, in effect the one thing that so often reminds us that we are human, is stolen. The feeling of touch, perhaps one of the most basic human expressions of affection, is taken. In many cultures, compounded with these things is the social stigma often attached to leprosy. More than half of all new leprosy cases are found in India, a Hindu culture. In this culture, contracting the disease is one of the worst imaginable for anyone. Those who contract the disease literally become “untouchable.” Read full story »