After strike,leprosy patients agree to shift to SSG Hospital

Dr R B Chudasama,medical officer,Ansuya Leprosy Hospital,said: “It is because of the attachment of the patients with the place that they protested against the move. While two patients have decided to go home,the other 22 will be shifted by tonight.”

Earlier in the day,when the authorities announced to shift them,the 24 in-house patients at Ansuya opposed the move and went on a hunger strike. They called off the strike after officials listened to their grievances and convinced them for the move.

The patients,however,remain sceptical about their future. “I have been here for the last 40 years. My family does not want me back home. We don’t know what to do if we are asked to leave saying we have been cured. Society doesn’t accept us,and at this age,we are not potential employees either,” said Rewa Baria,who belongs to Surat.

Mafatlal Solanki from Borsad,who has been staying at Ansuya for over 10 years,said,“There is an open space here and we can move about freely without any restrain. But there (at SSG Hospital),we will have to stay enclosed in a ward.”

The operation theatre and vocational courses offered at the centre were closed down a few years ago,and now the doctors and nurses would also shift to the SSG,where the patients have been allotted two wards at the Trauma Centre.

“We will see to it that they (patients) find the new place comfortable,” said Pravina Thakkar,Resident Medical Officer,SSG Hospital.