An Exile in My Own Country: the Confinement of Leprosy Patients at the United States National Leprosarium
Authors
John Parascandola
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Md USA
Keywords:
Leprosy , Hansen's Disease, Carville , Public Health Service
Abstract
Leprosy is a disease which has long been stigmatized, and persons afflicted with it have frequently been segregated from the rest of society. This papaer focuses on the evolution of policies concerning the confinement of patients at the national leprosarium operated by the United States Public Health Service ( PHS) at Carville, Louisiana. After a brief review of the origins of the Louisiana Leper Home, which eventually became the national leprosarium, the paper traces changing attitudes and policies at Carville from 1921, when the PHS took control of the facility, to the 1950s.
