Thus, while the Lourdes Society of Surat manages the operations of the Parvatibai Leper Infirmary and the Lady Wilson Leper Clinic, and its sisters -- assisted by fully cured patients -- bandage wounds, prescribe multi-drug therapy and other forms of medication, the patients with acute problems have to be referred to Mumbai for reconstructive surgery.

``We are horribly short of staff. Moreover, with patients coming in practically every day, there's sometimes no space to accommodate them'', says one of the sisters at the hospital. She adds reflectively, ``Maybe the doctors themselves are too scared (of the disease) to come forward.''

The hospital, which can accommodate about 250 patients, is almost always full. Set up on a spacious plot of land near the Ashwini Kumar Road, the hospital boasts of two men's wards, a women's ward, a dispensary and a physiotherapy centre. The compound also includes a primary school for patients' children, a carpentry hall, a stitching room, a flour mill and staff quarters.

The hospital grows its own vegetables and grains and has about 25 charkhas used by patients to spin cloth. The handicrafts, toys, paintings and furniture in the hospital's main office ``are all made by the patients themselves'', says Sister Candida Valaderes. Adds Sister Gridonia Sequeirs, ``They're extremely talented: they work in the farm, and in the kitchen and pantry.''

Asked how realistic the government's target of eradicating leprosy by the year 2000 was, a sister retorts, ``How can anyone talk of eradication, when we admitted a highly positive case today itself? It's anyone's guess how many people he may have infected.''

Another sister joins in: ``To talk of eradicating leprosy is one thing and doing it is another. Tell me, how many dedicated workers do we have in the primary health centres in rural areas?''

According to the leprosy hospital staff, only a small percentage of the leprosy patients in tribal South Gujarat actually end up in hospital. In fact, say many patients at the New Civil Hospital -- which is currently playing host to a leprosy recontructive camp -- their diagnosis came after years of treatment for other diseases, by which time physical degeneration had set in.

``Money is not a problem here, dedication is'', says a sister, adding that once leprosy manifested itself, patients were almost certain to be ill-treated by the ignorant. And the pity of it all, say the staff, is that the leprosy bacteria may lie dormant for as long as 15 years before manifesting itself, time enough for the experienced eye to spot the disease.