Pam Rhodes’ work for The Leprosy Mission
Songs of Praise presenter Pam Rhodes tells how a journey to Nepal made her passionate about fighting a disease that’s been around since Biblical times
As a committed Christian throughout her life and presenter of the BBC’s Songs of Praise for 35 years, Pam Rhodes knows the Bible well. What she did not know, however, was that a disease mentioned in the pages of the Bible is still causing needless distress in the poorest parts of the world thousands of years later.
Today, more than 200,000 new cases of leprosy are diagnosed every year and a staggering three million people live with irreversible disabilities, including blindness, caused by this infectious disease which attacks the nervous system. This is despite the fact there has been treatment available for more than 30 years.
Pam was visiting the nation’s churches as part of presenting Songs of Praise when she first heard these alarming statistics from the Christian charity The Leprosy Mission.
Shocked by the plight of the desperately poor people affected by leprosy overseas, Pam was moved to do something to help, at first lending a hand with The Leprosy Mission’s events and later becoming vicepresident of the charity.
Then came the invitation to accompany the charity to a hospital in Nepal to see first-hand the devastating impact of the disease and how the Mission is making a difference. Pam immediately said yes to the invitation. “I had to go and see for myself what the situation was,” she says.
Pam and the team visited Anandaban Hospital, just outside the capital Kathmandu, which cares for 40,000 patients each year. Its staff carry out surgeries to tackle complications of the disease and help sufferers rebuild their lives.
The hospital, despite being located in one of the poorest areas of the world, is one of the best centres globally for groundbreaking research into the condition. However, like so much of Nepal, the hospital was devastated by the earthquakes of 2015 and is in a bad state of disrepair.
As Pam met doctors, patients and families, what shocked her the most was the stigma and shame still attached to the disease, just as it was in Bible times when people with leprosy were thrown out of their communities and feared, until Jesus sought out their company to accept and include them.
“I discovered that 30 years ago a drug therapy for leprosy was found that stops leprosy in its tracks,” says Pam. “In fact, within
24 hours, a person is no longer infectious. Yet there is a superstition in many countries that leprosy is a punishment for things you or your ancestors have done, so people do not seek the treatment they need, believing they deserve this illness.”
Many leprosy sufferers are also cast out of their families or villages or even subjected to violence, plunging them deeper into poverty and isolation, unless they find the help of a hospital such as Anandaban.
“What surprised me was that in spite of everything, there was an incredible human spirit in the hospital,” says Pam. “After the earthquake, the hospital rallied together, continuing operations at first under canvas and in crumbling corridors and operating theatres with poor lighting. But even with these most basic facilities, the staff work miracles.”
That’s why The Leprosy Mission is in the middle of a landmark project with Anandaban called Heal Nepal, which aims to improve facilities, training and treatment to ensure more people have a chance of a better life. By improving services there it’s hoped the hospital can create a blueprint of care that can be replicated in many other countries around the world where leprosy is still a problem, with the dream that one day they will eradicate the disease for good.
Working in the community to change attitudes is a major part of that fight and ironically, the earthquakes of four years ago made strides in changing that.
“During the earthquake, Anandaban pulled out all the stops to anyone who needed medical care,” says Pam. “Suddenly the community arrived with their wounded on the doorstep of this hospital of leprosy sufferers – those previously cast out from villages. Yet, it was these
‘There is a superstition in many countries that leprosy is a punishment for things you or your ancestors have done’
leprosy sufferers who said ‘take my bed’ and ‘let me help you’ to the injured. That taught people a lot about leprosy – that these kind people should not be feared.”
It’s hoped this message will now spread out into the community to educate others, allowing those with leprosy to seek treatment. “It feels like a turning point and it’s a privilege to be a part of it,” says Pam. “I think it’s terrible that 2,000 years on from the poor treatment of those with leprosy in Bible days, the disease still exists. I’d like to work to a point where The Leprosy Mission isn’t needed anymore.”