Georgetown University Library holds three documents in the Van Engert collection relating to leprosy. They are reports for the US Secretary of State on leprosy in Venezuela (1929) and in Afghanistan in the 1930s and 1940s.
The report on Venezuela mentions the existence of two colonies: Cabo Blanco (Dr Martin Vegas) and Isla de Providencia (Dr L Garcia Maldonado). The numbers of patients are known to be 828, and the treatment of the time is Antileprol in addition to a new preparation invented by Dr Noguera Gomez of Caracas.
The report on Afghanistan consists of that made by Lowe for BELRA in 1942. It cites a low instance of the disease (100 approx) and the need for more research. It quotes the reports of Dr Lichtwardt in the 1930s who recorded 200 cases at Meshed amongst the Berberis people (Hazaras people). This was noted as interesting from the point of view of the issue of racial susceptibility to the disease. A report is also made of a proposal for a leper colony at Surkh Ab, Kabul, and Lowe encourages control of the disease by isolation in accordance with the recommendations of the International Congress of Leprosy in Cairo in 1938. A later letter by Van Engert (1945) about leprosy in Afghanistan discusses a survey to be undertaken by Dr Humayun Khan. It also mentions plans for a leper colony in the Yak Walang area (65 miles west of Bamian).
Entry made 21 February 2002