Egypt’s last leprosy colony faces uncertain future amid development plans

Patients at Egypt’s last leprosy colony, Abu Zaabal located 20 miles northeast of Cairo fear eviction despite government assurances, Worldcrunch reports.

Concerns reportedly emerged after Egypt’s Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar discussed plans in January to rehouse patients and "develop" the colony’s land. Though the ministry denied intentions to close it, sources suggest efforts to repurpose the site have been ongoing for two years, citing declining infection rates.

“Colonies were built for an era where the only known treatment for leprosy was complete quarantine,” said Dr Salah Abd El-Naby, the former head of the leprosy program at Egypt’s ministry of health in 2010. “That’s no longer the case.”

Leprosy, a bacterial disease that primarily affects the skin, peripheral nerves, eyes and upper respiratory tract can now be treated with antibiotics.

Established in the 1930s, Abu Zaabal, once spanned 2,400 acres but now covers 262. It houses generations of patients and their families. Residents sustain themselves through small trades like shoemaking, tailoring, and farming.

Nearby, Ezbet El-Safih — known as "The Fourth Ward" — shelters recovered patients unable to return home. Stigma makes it hard for people who once had the disease to reintegrate into society. 

Hassan, a resident for 35 years, shared how stigma still impacts his life.

"When people learn I had leprosy, they’re afraid of me," he said, recalling a doctor who refused him a health certificate.

For 60-year-old Shaaban, who has lived in the colony with his wife for 30 years, eviction feels inevitable. "We have no families to return to, and no one believes we’re cured. Once they take the land, we’ll have nothing."

Egyptian MP Irene Saad confirmed the health minister proposed transforming the land into medical facilities, but Parliament objected, citing the patients' vulnerability. "We’re not against development," Saad stated, "but patients must have alternative housing to ensure a dignified life."