The History Of Leprosy In Jiangsu During The PRC

Leprosy is a contagious disease caused by mycobacterium leprae. Under the invasion of mycobacterium leprae, the leper suffers fester from skin to bone, showing a horrific appearance. Because lepers don’t die soon, the leprosy becomes a long-term social phenomenon. Before1950, leprosy cannot be cured, and due to its unique appearance, lepers are given various stigmas, which carry important social and cultural meanings. History of leprosy has been important subject of social history.Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, two great changes have taken place. First, lepers are massively investigated and isolated, and a large number of leprosy villages are ordered to be established by the administrative departments forcefully. Second, specific leprosy medicine comes out in1950s, making leprosy no longer an incurable disease. Then the leprosy villages disappear gradually. In a just few decades, leprosy has gone through a process of being cared by few people, massively isolated and then gradually disappearing. Therefore, it is necessary to study the history of lepers and leprosy villages, a special group of patients and special communities, and then summarize pros and cons in the process of treating leprosy.In the paper, the author, mainly studying Jiangsu Province and some other areas, divides the research into three phases:before and after the founding of PRC, collectivization period, and after reform and opening-up. The research questions are:1. About stigmatization process of leprosy. There are three stages in this process: symbol stigma, instrument stigma and de-stigmatization. In the Republic of China era and at the beginning of new China, due to the lack of medical knowledge, most Chinese take leprosy as a kind of divine punishment or something else concerning religion rather than as a kind of infectious disease. And in tenns of peoples attitude to lepers, most people are indifferent to this disease and hold little precautions to it. Therefore, most lepers live a life with their families normally as usual. In collectivization period, due to the deficiency of publicity and sweeping compulsory take-in measures, the stigmatization of leprosy got serious quickly. In face of this stigmatization, lepers respond in three ways:committing suicide, taking revenge, and making profit. After1985, people began to propagandize leprosy in a more scientific way instead of emphasizing its infectivity.2.About leprosy isolation policies in different time. In the Republic of China era, influenced by westerners, Chinese elites took leprosy as national disgrace, and established some civil medical institutions with foreign churchmen, which accept those volunteer to go to it. The state, those responsible for the public health didn’t intervene it. At the beginning of the PRC, only some leprosy hospitals were sanitarium for those government employers and veterans, and posed no isolation requirements to those common lepers. With the change of collectivization, especially people’s communalization movement, it turned to be a urgent issue to isolate lepers. Therefore, a large number of leprosy villages were established, increasing acceptance capacity and reinforcing acceptance measures. In the middle of1970, not only lepers, but also cured patients were forced to go asylums. After1981, the isolation policy got abolished.3.About organization model of leprosy villages(hospitals).According to the patients identity, different kinds of receiving institutions are established. Leprosy hospitals mainly accept officers in service, government cadres, enterprises employees, and college students. While leprosy villages mainly accept lepers among. Leprosy hospitals, similar to formal hospitals equipped with sickbeds, are affiliated to national units, while leprosy villages are special rural communities integrating labor and cure. That is to say, in leprosy villages with arable land and without agricultural tax, at the same time of receiving cure, patients need to undertake production tasks so as to be self-sufficient. Leprosy village experiences two phase:the phase of hospital stimulating villages, and the phase of separating hospitals from villages. At the beginning, leprosy villages have attached medical institutions. And after1983, the medical institutions moved back to cities. In terms of management of leprosy villages, the common method is using patients to manage patients under the government officers.4.About the existence state of lepers and cured lepers. Most lepers suffer dual torments brought by social discrimination and illness pain. The conditions of leprosy hospitals in cities are relatively good, while the conditions of most leprosy villages are harsh. During three-year difficult period, the lepers in villages are a group with high mortality rate. Before the reform and opening, many lepers in villages receive no good and regular remedy. After hospitals and villages get separated, among,80%of those who are left in villages to get remedy were the disabled with average age being above60. And their living conditions call for our worry because there haven’t good medical care. What’s more, the cured trying to walk out of leprosy villages need to face the trouble of reintegrating into society.Despite the achievement in the process of treating Leprosy in Jiangsu province, many problems still exist:First, in the aspect of propagandizing, human mistakes cause quick aggravation of stigmatization of leprosy. Second, indiscriminate and mandatory isolation go against the normal medical knowledge. It began to abolish the leprosy isolation system in the international community from1950’s. While in China, it began from1960’s, and reached the peak in the1970’s. Especially mandatory isolation of the cured patients in1970s is a kind of policy discrimination and violation of human rights. Third, the patients and their families should be taken good care of because they are forced to transfer their individual rights due to the potential threat of others. But evidently, this cannot be done well. In a long period, leprosy village is close to shelters rather than medical facilities.