Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital: Delivering Hope Despite COVID-19 Surge

Jul 6, 2021

Your partnership with American Leprosy Missions supports our partners and creates hope for thousands of people across the world, even during a pandemic. Through your gifts and prayers, you join with us and our Christian hospital partners in our calling to restore dignity and health to those marginalized by leprosy and related diseases, joining in the renewal of creation in the name of Jesus. One of our longtime partners, Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital in Nepal, is facing a surge of the coronavirus. The current situation is challenging, yet they continue to provide expert care and reconstructive surgeries to people suffering from leprosy, as well as critical services to their local community.

Protecting the Most Vulnerable during COVID-19

Because of your generous support, people affected by leprosy are still receiving expert care during Nepal’s national lockdown. People affected by leprosy are immunocompromised and, while taking multi-drug therapy (MDT) to cure the disease, they are exposed to high doses of steroids. These factors make them much more vulnerable to viruses like COVID-19. To protect its leprosy patients, Lalgadh can’t admit someone with an obvious COVID infection, but they can treat urgent symptoms.
diagnostic lab at Lalgadh Hospital

The diagnostic lab at Lalgadh remains busy!

Bringing Hope to Surrounding Community

In addition to its care for people affected by leprosy, Lalgadh continues to be a critical health resource for its local community. Although they only see 50-100 daily outpatient cases during lockdown (down from 400 per day), Lalgadh was able to host an immunization clinic prior to the lockdown to ensure young children don’t fall behind in their routine shots. Your gifts support vital community health measures like this one, as well as quality care for Lalgadh’s leprosy patients!

Lalgadh Immunizations

Lalgadh is an important health resource for its community, providing infant immunizations and other services.

Changing Lives through Surgery

Thanks to your compassionate support, people affected by leprosy continue to experience new hope through reconstructive surgeries. Saraswati is 10 years old. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with leprosy, and the disease has begun to affect her right hand, causing her fingers to lose sensation and range of motion, forming a “claw”. She just had surgery at Lalgadh to restore her hand’s mobility: this surgery means Saraswati won’t experience discrimination for having a visible handicap. Every day, your partnership provides hope for children like Saraswati, communicating that they are loved and valued despite social stigma against leprosy.
Saraswati surgery

Saraswati’s surgery was successful!

Your Partnership Opens New Doors for Lalgadh

With your partnership, we are supporting Lalgadh’s progress to become a Center of Excellence for leprosy. While strengthening Lalgadh’s current programs, training, and research, this growth will also include work with Nepal’s National Leprosy Control Program. Lalgadh will also launch a new initiative to provide home-based care to people who have disability due to leprosy. Thank you for being part of Lalgadh’s work to bring healing to people affected by leprosy. You are an integral part of our mission to restore people to lives of dignity and hope, in the name of Christ.

How you can pray for Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital:

  • Praise God for all the people affected by leprosy who’ve received the cure and needed surgeries at Lalgadh, even during COVID-19!
  • Recently, three staff members tested positive for COVID-19 and are in quarantine. If staff or current patients become infected, Lalgadh has turned its training center—a separate building from the hospital—into a quarantine unit. Pray for them to be restored to health soon.
  • Pray that Lalgadh’s medical supplies are delivered on time. Just before lockdown, the hospital secured five additional oxygen cylinders and two new oxygen generators, supplies that are now impossible to find. Other items, like PPE and thermometers and disinfecting supplies, are in short supply.
  • Pray that Lalgadh will be able to retain their oxygen supply for non-COVID cases and that the hospital won’t have to convert to an emergency COVID-19 center, as this would endanger leprosy patients and drain limited supplies.
Lalgadh Staff disinfecting hallways

Lalgadh staff spraying the halls with bleach to disinfect them.