A very simple structure.

 

Cleaning and dressing of wounds.

 

Preparation of prescriptions.

 

Food distribution.

 

And in the evening they take it all down.

Chitpur clinic

The clinic is situated on the Banks of the Hoogly River and treats around 20 leprosy patients a day. The centre is often perceived as the last hope for patients who have been rejected from other centres.

Calcutta Rescue works together with the Calcutta Municipal Corporation to provide free treatment and check-ups for the most destitute leprosy victims. The Corporation provides the medicines and then Calcutta Rescue takes over the care-giving:

  • Cleaning dressing of wounds under chiropodist’s supervision
  • Health education to inform patients how deal with their illness, on the importance of taking their medicines regularly to stop the illness in its tracks and how to reduce the risk of limb deformation
  • Physiotherapy under the supervision of a professional physiotherapist
  • Manufacture of made-to-measure shoes in our own shoe-making workshop
  • Medication for other illnesses aside of leprosy, food, clothing and blanket distribution, rehabilitation and social aid
Chitpur clinic is the only Calcutta Rescue clinic that is not built in hard material. It is simply a bamboo structure and a tarpaulin roof. The reason for this is due to the huge social stigma attached to this disease. Sufferers are often marginalised and rejected by their own families. Nobody wants a leper at home let alone a leper clinic right next door and so renting a building in town is very difficult.

Leprosy

Leprosy is also known as Hansen’s Disease and is a chronic bacterial infection with mycobacterium leprae. The incubation period is long and silent and can last from 2 to 8 years. The symptoms may only manifest after 20 years. Bad hygiene conditions and promiscuity favour the spread of the disease.

The initial symptoms are minimal skin lesions characterized by localized insensitivity. If the disease is treated at this stage the disease can disappear completely without leaving any trace. However, if not treated, the lesions of the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes become more progressive and permanent. There are two forms of the disease: Tuberculoid leprosy (non-contagious) and Lepromatous leprosy (infectious).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends polychemotherapy (PCT) as a treatment which involves the taking of 3 medicines: dapsone, rifampicine and clofazimine. The PCT is safe, efficient and easy to administer in monthly doses contained in practical heat-sealed packs. Medication lasts from 6 to 24 months depending on the individual case.  Infectious patients are no longer contagious from the first dose of PCT.
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