Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Campbell, SVD, Chairman of the Lepers Aid Committee, has urged Ghanaians to be empathetic towards cured lepers and do away with all forms of stigmatization against them.
He bemoaned the inhumane treatment families and society in general give to cured lepers, lamenting that even nurses and doctors, who are expected to care for the sick and afflicted, sometimes deny them care.
Speaking in an interview with The Catholic Standard recently, Fr. Andrew Campbell shared experiences of neglect and rejection of person’s living with leprosy in some hospitals in the country, where doctors and nurses on duty refused to give medical care to a cured leper.
He also shared an instance where a doctor, after several persuasions, reluctantly agreed to perform major surgery on a cured leper only on the condition that he would be removed from the hospital the day after the surgery.
He, however, singled out the Ridge Hospital in Accra, which has always willingly given quality healthcare to cured lepers.
"There is, for instance, the traumatizing story of little Priscilla, the youngest inmate of the Weija Leprosarium, who has been abandoned by her family because they see her as evil. Her family say no member of her family has ever had the disease and so she must be evil," he said.
Fr. Campbell called on Ghanaians not to shun cured lepers but see them as their fellow human beings, treat them with dignity and respect, and show empathy, love and concern for them by not only supporting them financially but also visiting and interacting with them.
He called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, review the daily GH¢1 stipend given to cured lepers for their upkeep, as it is woefully inadequate. He also asked the government to consider instituting a free medical care policy for them.
Sharing his vision for the Weija Leprosarium, Fr. Campbell said he hopes to make the place a rehabilitation centre and a home for cured lepers. He said future plans to develop the Leprosarium included a sports facility, an adoration chapel, a rehabilitation centre, an event centre and commercial buildings to generate income for the upkeep of the inmates and their dependents.
He mentioned, for instance, the huge medical bills that are paid for the inmates and school fees for their children and grandchildren who live with them.
Fr. Campbell called for support to finish the research center, which is the only one in the whole of West Africa, so that it serves the purpose for which it was established.
Ms. Esther Geh, Administrator of the Weija Leprosarium, speaking on World Leprosy Day on the theme: Act Now, End Leprosy, noted that new cases of leprosy are being detected with numbers as high as between 150 and 200 being recorded.
She said both the rise in cases and discrimination can be attributed to ignorance about the disease and its mode of transmission and therefore called for education to address the situation.
"People who contract leprosy consider it more as a spiritual attack than a medical condition; hence, they do not seek the needed medical attention, while others also do not report infection because of fear of being stigmatized," she explained.
She stressed the need to reintroduce care for persons affected with leprosy in the public health curriculum so that nurses will not only have the expertise but the empathy in caring for people infected with leprosy.
Explaining the idea behind the theme, she said Act Now, End Leprosy was about early detection and treatment of the disease to prevent disability and spread.
The event was graced by the Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who is also a patron of the Weija Leprosarium.
World Leprosy Day is observed every year on the last Sunday in January.
AE/BOG
Fr Campbell and Dr Bawumia interacting cheerfully with some lepers on World Leprosy Day