Then & Now | Memories of Hong Kong's last leper colony
Closed in 1974, the Hei Ling Chau leper colony offered a sanctuary to lepers banished from Hong Kong society; even when a cure became available, some chose to stay on the small island rather than trying to reintegrate, writes Jason Wordie
Leprosy has been a scourge since ancient times. Lepers were historically shunned and isolated from their communities owing to fear of infection. Also known as Hansen’s Disease, leprosy remained a major global public health problem well into the 20th century.
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Sufferers lived in leprosariums, which became known – in various languages – as Lazarus houses, from the Biblical myth of the leper Lazarus, who was miraculously cured by Jesus. The last major leprosarium in the United States, in Louisiana, closed in 1998.
As the disease was largely incurable until the 1970s, removal of sufferers to dedicated, isolated leprosariums meant – in effect – lifelong banishment from the rest of society. In its terminal stages, the illness was fearsome; faces collapsed and noses, fingers and toes – and sometimes, entire hands and feet – dropped off as nerve endings were gradually destroyed.
The first effective curative treatments were developed in the 1940s, and research advances over the following three decades rendered leprosy completely treatable, with a combination of drugs. Nevertheless, numerous cases are still reported worldwide.
