May 2025. We conducted a first courtesy visit to the Polewali Mandar District Health Office to discuss the plans for our upcoming activities in the Polewali area. During the meeting, we met with the Head of the Health Office (Mr. Mustam), the Head of Department (Mr. Gunadil), and the Leprosy Supervisor (Mr. Muh. Mukmin).
The Health Office expressed great appreciation for the planned activities, and the Head of the Health Office voiced his full support for the initiative, emphasizing that public understanding of leprosy remains very low. He also stated that collaboration with PerMaTa is very valuable, considering that many human rights violations are still experienced by people affected by leprosy (OYPMK). The planned activities are also seen as a way to motivate the community and families of OYPMK. It was noted that most of the leprosy cases in the area are of the MB (Multibacillary) type, and there are also a number of leprosy cases among children.
The Head of the Health Office also mentioned that a stakeholder meeting will soon be held to address communicable diseases, particularly tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. However, leprosy is not included due to the lack of funding. Therefore, we were now invited to the meeting and requested to present about leprosy. The Health Office also plans to inform the Regent of the province about PerMaTa’s visit to Polewali.
Next to visiting 12 of the 20 health centres, we also conducted an awareness session in one of the villages. This village was selected by the health services because there were cases of leprosy experiencing discrimination from the community.
Next steps: In the coming months we will visit young people affected by leprosy and organize meetings with them in collaboration with the health workers to encourage them to join PerMaTa.
