Leper colonies in Australia

[Bob Crowley]

There was an item on the ABC news a couple of days ago about a young boy being killed in an accident at a shopping centre in Palmerston, which is about 15 minutes drive from Darwin. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks in Darwin in June / July this year, wiht a side trip to Palmerston, and I was curious as to where the shopping centre was.

Boy, 11, killed in 'horrific' crash in shopping centre car park near Darwin

Police say the boy, who was visiting from interstate with his family, died from his injuries after a ute "lurched forward" outside Moulden Supermarket in Palmerston.

www.abc.net.au

When I looked at the map of Palmerston online and then shrunk it on-screen, I noticed a road going to a place called Channel Island. We weren't aware of it when we were in Darwin.

So I looked up Channel Island on Google, and came up with the fact it used to be a leper colony before treatment became available. It's can be surprising where a train of thought can lead sometimes.

Honouring the dead at Darwin's leprosy island

It took the plight of a young white girl to draw attention to the horrible conditions Indigenous sufferers of leprosy had to endure in the NT.

www.abc.net.au

This reminded me that Peel Island off Brisbane also used to be a leper colony.

The lazaret at Peel Island, Moreton Bay — Secret Brisbane

Peel Island, now known as Teerk Roo Ra is in Moreton Bay, east of Brisbane, and is a place of great cultural heritage. It was once home to a lazaret, or leper colony. Today it is a national park and a conservation park, jointly managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the island’s trad

www.secretbrisbane.com.au

This got me curious about leper colonies in Australia and there were a couple more.

Medical history: Leprosy is a terror of the past. Right?

Not so. Leprosy, one of history’s most dreaded diseases, is still with us.

www1.racgp.org.au

Several leper colonies, or lazarets, existed throughout Australia. Notable examples included Peel Island, off the coast of Brisbane, Fantome island, near Townsville (exclusively for Aboriginal patients), and Mud Island and Channel Island, in the Northern Territory.

Unfortunately, as per the above article, it seems "leprosy isn't quite done with us yet".

 

[Kylie]

My understanding is that leprosy today is quite rare and easily treated. Out of the 8 billion people in the world, only about 208,000 have the condition. And a cure is available. There's no need for leper colonies today. Even the article you cited last indicates that leprosy was curable as far back as the 1940s.