By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The 5th annual Robben Island Museum (RIM) Memorial Lecture, this year shone the spotlight on the 85 painful years of the Robben Island Leprosarium, drawing parallels between Leprosy, its stigma, isolation, banishment and exile, and that experienced during COVID-19.
As a symbol of life-long learning, Robben Island Museum is home to a myriad of stories and lessons, way beyond just the remarkable people who served time as political prisoners. There is a multi-layered medical history of banishment, exile and stigma, that becomes so much more relevant as South Africa and indeed the world start rebuilding and learning from the impact of COVID-19, that is still very much around, albeit significantly downplayed,” said Abigail Thulare, RIM CEO during her opening remarks.
In a thought-provoking conversation and robust debate with medical experts, academics and students, RIM sought to honour the history and heritage of the Leprosy patients it once housed.
Dr Harlem Gongxeka, an expert on infectious diseases, and Head Clinical Domain & Chief Radiologist at Livingstone Tertiary Hospital, opened the discussion with a riveting presentation on leprosy as a disease. Is it infectious? Are there similarities between Leprosy and COVID-19? “While the methods of contraction, from one person to another and the infectious nature thereof are similar, it could take up to 20 years for leprosy to become visible in some people,” he said.
With a particular focus on stigma, Peter Laubscher, who has worked with the Leprosy Mission since 1981, unpacked the social impact of the pandemic and drew strong parallels between the stigma attached to ancient diseases such as Leprosy, and that associated with HIV/AIDS, Monkey Pox and more recently COVID-19.
“Incarceration on remote islands cemented the stigma that brief contact could cause infection with Leprosy, when in fact most people are immune to Leprosy and even the small number of people who are at risk of Leprosy, usually require protracted contact with an untreated Leprosy patient in order to contract the disease,” said Laubscher.
Laubscher, who has dedicated much of his life’s work to awareness and education around Leprosy, commended RIM for their concerted efforts in keeping the history and heritage of Leprosy alive through its heritage education programmes, particularly given that Leprosy still exists in society to this day.
In a striking parallel, the remote islands and even land-based Leprosy treatment centres were historically seen as the land of the living dead, or places of no return. During the height of COVID-19 infection around the world, being admitted to hospital for treatment, quickly led to the creation of a narrative, that one does not return from hospital – it is where you go to die alone.
The compulsory segregation of Leprosy patients ended in the 1970s, and legal restrictions on the movement of Leprosy patients were lifted in recent decades, yet today there still exists, more than 100 laws world-wide, that place sanctions on people affected by Leprosy. Sadly too, even in the absence of legislative pressure, social and community pressure for Leprosy patients to leave their communities, still prevails.
Adding the voice of religious leaders to the conversation, Father Richard O’Riordan, reflected on exile during biblical times, which later changed as led by scientific evidence. He also strongly condemned the widely held view that diseases like Leprosy and more recently COVID-19, was punishment by God for man’s sins.
Much like Leprosy patients, HIV positive patients were often seen as having received punishment for their immoral life choices.
Taking in the presentations of the field experts, two medical students, Sibande Mbano and Caitlin Sithole concluded the discussions and deliberations with an appreciation for the lessons of history, and a commitment to use the field of Medicine, to not only fight diseases, but fight the stigma.
“We have reviewed RIM’s trajectory and we are committed to ensuring that there shall be no outcasts. There shall be no scorned. There shall be no one carrying any stigma and we are committed to a future that involves everyone.” These were the closing remarks of newly elected RIM Council Chairperson, Professor Saths Cooper.