Leprosy Asylum Jongaya

Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. The infection attacks the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes and if left untreated, can lead to severe disfigurement and even amputation of limbs as secondary infections set in. Indonesia has the third highest incidence of leprosy  in the world, with one new case per 10,000 people. Areas such as East java, Maluku and Sulawesi have even higher rates of incidence.

From: ‘Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Zending op Zuid-Sulawesi 1852-1966‘, 18: ‘After the war different Dutch medical doctors worked in Labuang Baji and a few other health facilities in Makassar, among which a leprosy facility at Jongaya, a kampung not far from Labuang Baji.

Hasibuan, Yamin, (www. dryaminhasibuan.com): The Jongaya leprosy settlement nowadays is situated inside Makassar, bordered by the hospital Haji, a channel, and other neighbourhoods. When it was founded in 1936, this side was still at the outskirts of a much smaller Makassar, excluded from town, together with the rubbish dump and the jail. The land was donated by some members of the local nobility of Gowa (Karaeng Bontobiraeng) to the Dutch Foundation for the Elimination  of Leprosy. In the beginning the locality was consisting of the settlement with 25 wooden houses, and a ward at  the side of the later Leprosy Hospital next to the settlement. In the 1960s the leprosy hospital was built by a Dutch/Indonesian Leprosy Foundation and in 1980/81 it was handed over to the Indonesian Government.The leprosy hospital was closed in the beginning of the 1990s, completely rebuilt, and in 1992 opened as the Rumah Sakit Kusta Dr. Tadjuddin Chalid. It is no longer situated close to the general hospital Haji, which is established at the Jalan Dg. Ngepe no.14.

Nowadays (2013) the Leprosy hospital is established in Makassar City, Jalan Paccerakkang no.67 and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. The hospital has a capacity of 195 beds and its medical staff has 54 members. The nursing staff: 114 members.Other personnel: 200. It is classified as a Class A hospital.