Photos: Leprosy village in Jiudaoyakou village in Yunnan Province

From 163.com [Translation by CDT]:

Before the founding of the People's Republic, people with leprosy were killed to prevent them from spreading the disease to others. In the 1950s, this disease could be cured and in the 1980s, medicines were handed out to leprosy patients for free. Even though the disease can be cured, the lasting effects, and discrimination, still stay with the patients. Leprosy communities are looked on as demons and are often not accepted by outsiders. There are about 10,000 people who have recovered from leprosy and their relatives living in Yunnan. Around 70% of Chinese patients live in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangdong and Guangxi.

These photos record a group of volunteer doctors helping the recovered leprosy patients in Jiudaoyakou village in Yunnan and illustrate their lives. This village of 64, founded in 1964, is home to recovered leprosy patients who fled nine leprosy rehab centers... [Read more]