Leprosy in Hong Kong (1951-1975)

Abstract

 With the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Sheklong leprosarium in Canton, where leprosy sufferers from Hong Kong and Guangzhou used to receive their treatment, was no longer accessible and many patients sought refuge in Hong Kong. Starting in 1950, with the help of the medical missionaries, The Mission to Lepers and the British colonial government developed a new infrastructure to face this new problem; thus a leprosarium was established on the island of Hay Ling Chau. Through the evolution of this leprosarium, from its opening in 1951 until its closure, and the integration of the remaining leprosy patients into general governmental hospitals in 1975, this thesis is the first of its kind to examine the management of leprosy in post-Second World War Hong Kong. Based on published documents edited by the medical missionaries and/or the colonial governments, newspaper articles in local and international journals and governmental papers, this study analyzes the political, medical and social aspects of the leprosy policy. It explores the role played by the missionaries and the Government in its elaboration and management. The fact that non-governmental organizations provided social welfare care to the residents of the Colony in the second half of the twentieth century has been mentioned by historians but their role the elaboration and development of social policy in Hong Kong has never been the main object of study. Moreover, previous studies have not analyzed the new challenges brought by the medical advance in leprosy treatment. Indeed, in the late 1940s, thanks to the discovery of new drugs, leprosy became curable. For lack of space on the island and due to the increasing number of leprosy cases, former patients had to be reintegrated into the rest of the Colony. Starting in the mid- 1950s, the Hong Kong Government and The Mission to Lepers worked in collaboration to develop new suitable measures to ensure the long-term care of patients. The missionaries were responsible for the patients on Hay Ling Chau whereas the colonial state monitored out-patients and provided accommodation and food supplies to the former ones. As a result, by re-examining the work accomplished by the medical missionaries, this thesis adds a new chapter to the annals of leprosy treatment and social policy in Hong Kong.