Celebrating the International Day to Combat Leprosy and Honoring Dr. Yasin Al-Qubati [Archives:2000/05/Health]
January 31 2000
By: Imad Al-Saqqaf
Taiz Bureau Chief
Yemen Times
A ceremony was held last Saturday January 29, 2000 celebrating the event of the international day to combat leprosy in the headquarters of the Yemeni Association For Fighting Leprosy in Taiz.
The ceremony was commenced with some recitation from the Holy Qura’an. Then a speech was made by Dr. Yasin Abdul Al-Alim, chairman of the project to fight leprosy spelling out the stages followed to control this disease. He pointed out that they have made great achievements in controlling this disease.
At the end of the ceremony Dr. Abdullah Abdul Wali Nasher delivered a speech thanking Dr. Yasin and the international organizations that have contributed to the success of fighting leprosy. He said “What we have achieved was the basis to control leprosy and eventually inaugurate the second ten-year period. We have achieved a conspicuous success since Dr. Yasin came to be the chairman of this project. Reports say that the ratio of outbreak of this disease is 3% for 100,000 people which is considered to be of the least ratios all over the world.” He also referred to the letter of Mr. Abdul Karim Al-Aryani, Prime Minister in which he expressed his gratefulness and thanks for Dr. Yasin for his commendable efforts in fighting leprosy.
Lepers in Yemen, as is the case all over the world have suffered a merciless social war. They were ostracized by society because of the deformations caused by leprosy disease. It was mistakenly believed that this disease is a punishment for those who had committed reprehensible deeds and the only way to treat it is to isolate lepers. Lepers were deprived of many rights even of performing their prayers from in mosques and were isolated in cottages providing them no shelter at all. As a result of this social attitude, lepers formed small segregated societies haunted by rancor towards the society that have ostracized them. Therefore, they grew aggressive and in despair of forming normal social relationship with the healthy people and even with those who render help to them.
Under these circumstances, only few people did risk to help the lepers. Such a decision requires a lot of fortitude, courage, self-denial and honesty in feelings and deeds. These are the common characteristics among those who deal with lepers all around the world without which they cannot embark on such a risk. It was God’s will to put lepers in Yemen and their tragedy on my way. I was still a student in the medical college in Egypt when I saw Mother Teresa’s nuns in their unfamiliar clothes in the streets of Taiz. I would usually visit them in their center in Al-Nour city and sometimes I would go with them to the leprosy hospital in the city where one could see despair, deprivation and suffering on lepers’ faces. I could see the disease eating into their bodies destroying their cells and tissues resulting in the most horrible of scenes. However, despite the manner in which lepers treated us with, we endured their insults and we were not spared even of their blows, which rather strengthened my determination to work for finding ways for offering help to them. I graduated in 1980 from the college of medicine and got my degree as venereal and dermatological diseases doctor and this was the point when I started my real work as a doctor in treating leprosy.
At the second meeting of the International Health Organization for the Middle East held on 30 October 1982 in Mogadishu on October, 1982 to discuss the strategies of combating leprosy I presented the second national report on leprosy in Yemen and how to fight against it (there were only 174 cases back then). During the course of the meeting, I met Dr. Shiek Nour Al-Deen, Leprosy-Combating Unit chairman in the International Health Organization, and Dr. Howard Bruce, head of the Ophthalmology Department in California University, San Francisco, through whom I was acquainted with methods and means that would, in the future, enable me to find resources to fund the leprosy combating project in Yemen. Few months later, I hosted both of them in Taiz where we were able to know the reality of leprosy in Yemen and to draw the first lines for the policy of combating it. Together we published our first article in a world magazine about the conditions of lepers in Yemen. The article aimed at attracting governmental and non-governmental organizations to help Yemen fight against leprosy. We hoped the we could at least find its roots and reduce the risk of infection in the society and aid the government introduce modern means of treatment for the benefit of lepers in Yemen.
At this point, the World Health Organization started a training program in Yemen. Egyptian, Nigerian and Indian specialists were sent to Yemen to train Yemeni Doctors.
I was the first Yemeni sent to receive training on the ways of combating leprosy at the world’s largest specialized institute, i.e., the American Army Hospital, Carvel, Louisiana, USA.
This training program was like a brainwash for all the attendants where they get confident in being able to fight leprosy in the whole world. During this course we knew the addresses of organizations that could help us combat leprosy. Few months later, I participated in the 12th conference on combating leprosy on 20 February 1984 in New Delhi, India. There I met Dr. Hostler and Dr. Nour Al-Deen. We decided to seek help from large organizations. It was decided that I travel to Britain and Dr. Hostler to Germany for making contacts with the British and German leprosy-combating organizations. Then, I would go to Holland, France and talk to French, Dutch and Belgium organizations. We continued our work for 4 years looking for a funds from international organizations.
Since 1982, and with the beginning of the compound chemical medicine was being applied, Dr. Sheik Nour Al-Deen was regularly supplying our project in Al-Nour city in Yemen with free and sufficient amounts of leprosy medicine.
In 1983, I was appointed Director in Al-Jomhori hospital in Taiz. The capabilities of the hospital were quite big so I used cars to visit other governorates like Dammar, Sana’a, Hajja and Sa’ada. I searched in all places for cases of leprosy like Bakim mountains, Razih in Sa’ada, Al-Ja’afariah mountain in Sana’a and Malhan, Hafash in Al-Mahweet and Abyan, Al-Shafidarah, Najarah in Hajja and in all Tihama’s valleys.
When I was still the Director of Al-Jomhori hospital, I assigned lepers the task of renovating the hospital in return for a daily payment. Because by this people got used to the presence of lepers around them. I was regularly publishing articles and stories about lepers and the difficulties they face in their life in an impressive style to make people who read them begin to sympathize with lepers.
International efforts continued to fund my business here in Yemen through Dr. Hostler in the USA, Dr. Roshdi Moharib in Egypt and Dr. Buhtani in India. At the end we were able to convince Glara organization to send Mr. Girshon, chief of the Leprosy-Combating Project in Al-Tami Nido in India and chief of Glara’s organization projects in Asia. The Ministry of Health has greatly welcomed Mr. Girshon and the presidency has even provided him with an official car which took him all the way to Sa’ada, Hajja and Marib to check the conditions of lepers. When we came back to Taiz, we had not enough time to visit the city so I had to ask for the aid of the air forces. Fortunately, Mr. Hamoud, Commander of the Air Forces, was too generous to provide us with a helicopter to visit Taiz and Ibb and know its geographical nature in the last day.
When the late Mr. Girshon presented his report to his boss back in Germany, the latter was amazed by the generous hospitality that his agent has received in Yemen. He also knew about the suffering of lepers here in Yemen and the paucity of resources despite the little help that Mother Teresa’s nuns were providing. Therefore, he ordered a contract to be signed with Ministry of Health in 1988. The contract was put into force in 1989 as a field project starting from Taiz, Dammar, Ibb and Hodeida. Yemeni doctors were trained for this purpose and the Glara organization donated 4 cars for the project and the World Health Organization another 2. The medical record commenced on 1982 with 174 cases. The following table shows the progress of detecting and treating leprosy cases since then:
Year Number of cases Year Number of cases 1985 140 1993 2209 1986 280 1994 2504 1987 420 1995 3110 1988 532 1996 3462 1989 729 1997 4090 1990 1176 1998 4756 1991 1663 1999 5442 1992 1887
And we are still discovering cases through 36 clinics in all governorates. The doctors who supervise these clinics use transportation only for field works. We are proud that in this project we have refused the decision of buying the project cars and thereby depriving ourselves of a privilege. Therefore our transportation means remained as follows:
– Glara German Organization, 8 Cars (TOYOTA land cruiser and 7 motorcycles
– International Health Organization, 3 motorcycles
– Ministry of health, 1 car (Hileux) and 1 lorry for water transportation.
– Yemeni Society for combating leprosy 2 cars (Hileux) and a bus (16 passengers)
Since the start of the training program we have trained 1199 health cadres for combating leprosy and another 203 for combating tuberculosis. I resigned from my job in the hospital in 1988 and devoted all my time to be a Director of the project. My battle was not just with leprosy, but also with some greedy people who wanted the Ministry of Health lands. My own children were kidnapped in front of my house and the lepers stood beside me courageously using stones and sticks against those greedy aggressors. When the situation grew worse, I traveled with my children to Egypt to save my life and my family’s and to pursue my PHD degree. After the reunification of Yemen I left my studies and returned home to continue my job as a director of the project which had decayed since I left it.
Within one year we were able to cover all southern governorates like Hadramout, Mahara and even reached Gadib mountains near the Oman borders. Therefore, I asked for the aid of Glara’s Organization and the Minister of Health and they provided us with another four cars. We opened new clinics all though the Republic making them 64 from Sa’ada in the North till Al-Kaytha in the southeast.
Our work has drawn the attention of Dr. Ahmed Al-Hamli who was a Director of health education in the Ministry of Health. So he launched an intensive TV health campaign. He took his stories and scenes in the Bedouin tents in Dawa’an valley and in the lepers’ cottages in Hajja, Sa’ada and Sana’a mountains. The stories had a great influence on people who started to sympathize with lepers instead of abandoning them.
Al-Nour hospital developed and became a place for treating various ailments like ophthalmic diseases, bones and even beauty surgeries. In 1992, an edict was released to make it a venereal and dermatological diseases hospital. The Ministry of health has provided the hospital with foreign nurses and a number of local doctors and nurses. Therefore, Mother Teresa’s nuns left because their work under the title “Serving the poorest” and moved to the Elderly House. We have also made agreements with many organizations some of which are:
(a) International Organizations:
1- Glara German Organization: since 1989 and up till now this organization still provides us with cars, maintenance, medicine, equipment; doctor’s, nurses, field workers…etc wages, international and local training courses costs. It has been also funding the tuberculosis-combating program since 1996.
2- Malta system French Organization: form 1984 to 1990 this organization has been providing the hospital with visitor surgeons and paid them to work in Yemen as medical consultants.
3- International Handicapped Organization: this organization has established a workshop to train patients produce medical shoes and walking sticks for lepers. When the organization concluded its work in Al-Nour city we convinced it to open new workshop in Al-Thawra hospital in Taiz which is still working until today.
4- Saint Lazeryas Organization: has provided the hospital with books, periodic prints and also designed posters and printed them to educate people of leprosy in Yemen.
5- International Health Organization: this organization has been providing us with medicine since 1984 until today and has funded international and local training costs. In addition, it has chosen me to be a member of the Supreme Committee for leprosy specialists and a member in the International Supreme for reviewing the special business for terminating leprosy and a member of the supervisors committee for combating leprosy around the world. It has also assigned me a consultant for fieldwork or a training specialist in the following countries (Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt and Libya). Moreover, the organization funded special projects in suburban areas like: Al-Masilah valley in Sayhout, Thamoud, Al-A’aber, Hajr in Hadramout, Al-Sa’aeed, Nisab, Mayfa’ah in Shabwa and finally in Abyan. It has also established a special camp to fight leprosy in Hodeida.
6- The Mectizan Committee M.S.D. in Atlanta, Georgia, USA: has provided us with modern medicines to treat the Sawda (Hyper Reactive Onco Circisis) disease from 1990 until today. This medicine is distributed for free in all valleys which run through the middle plateau pouring in the red sea in Dammar, Sana’a, Taiz, Hodeida, Ibb, Hajja and Mahweet.
7- International Center for Eyes Health: this center continuously advertises our deeds to attract volunteers in the field of eyes health.
8- Arabian-Austrian Relationship Union: has made an agreement with the Yemeni Society to terminate Leprosy to provide the hospital with doctors and surgeons to cover all the needs regarding the repercussions of leprosy beauty surgeries. The union also renders old clothes for children and toys and wheel chairs for the handicapped. We have also worked through this organization to design a large project funded by the European Union that is to renovate the venereal and dermatological diseases hospital in Al-Nour city with a $300 000 cost.
(b) Local organizations:
1- The Yemeni Society for combating leprosy, established in 22/1/1992, had supported in fields work and rendered the lepers financial aids to renovate their houses. They also funded other patient who had chronic diseases other than leprosy and helped their sons and daughters join institutes and universities. It has established an entertainment club and a soccer team which participates annually in the university league. It has also published lots of prints fighting the social disgrace of lepers. In addition, it had spent a 3.5 million dollars building a fence around the lands of Al-Nour city which where a matter of dispute. Moreover, it has built the administration building and training productive families with a cost of 7 million YR that it shared half-half with Hayel Sa’aeed Ana’am Charity Society. Now, the society is constructing external clinics buildings in the hospitals and is expanding Al-Ihsan with a cost of $ 60 000 with the aid of the social development fund. It is also worth mentioning that Hajj Ahmed Hayel Sa’aeed is the chairman of the Yemeni Society for Combating Leprosy who was the Secretary General of the society.
2- The Departed Hayel Sa’aeed Ana’am charity society has participated in building Al-Nour city’s mosque, Al-Ihsan school and a kindergarten in Al-Nour city alone. In addition to that, the society shared half the costs of constructing the administration building and renovating the rooms and ceilings of the hospital.
3- The Social Fund for Development: this organization participates now in expanding Al-Ihsan School in Al-Nour city and in building the venereal and dermatological diseases hospital Al-Nour city.
I have also traveled asking for the aid of expatriates in Saudi Arabia Kingdom and was able to get some funds from some traders there.
I would also like to add that executing these works and achievements would not have been possible without an international activity. I have attended 40 meetings and conferences all around the world from 1982 to 1999. I always was an active participant presenting working papers in all conferences not only about leprosy but also about Leishmania (Ivermactin) and venereal diseases. I had paved the way for my colleagues in Al-Nour city to attend international meetings and conferences in Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, India and China.
Moreover, I have published 15 articles in international magazines alone and with partners talking about leprosy, Sawda and Leishmania; wrote a chapter in international book which was published in India about the suffering of lepers. Furthermore, I have wrote a book of my own on lepers called “Together to terminate leprosy” and published 50 articles in Yemeni newspapers and magazines talking about lepers’ problems.
After twenty years of work against leprosy, we have discovered about 6000 cases which could have been 30 000 if had not been treated. The rate of lepers has also decreased to as low as 3 patients in every 100 000 whereas the international rate is 1 in every 10 000. We may need 10 other years to destroy leprosy completely in Yemen if we continue on the same pace. Finally, I hope that with aid of God that the skilled, loyal and strong team I have left under the leadership of Mr. Abdul-Raheem Al-Same’ei in cooperation with Ministry of Health, International Health and Glara organizations will finish what I had started.
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