療養所訪問を通してハンセン病問題を考える (2)

2010年3月26日、宮城県登米市にある東北新生園を事務局の3人(浅川・久能・菊地)で訪問した。さらに、2011年2月5日には、事務局2人(浅川・菊地)で訪問した。今回は、2回にわたり、東北新生園を訪問し、資料館見学や将来構想についてお聞きした内容を報告する。On March 26,2010,three staff members of the secretariat visited Tohoku Shinseien Sanatorium located in Tome City,Miyagi. Also on February 5,2011,two staff members visited there. This time, we would like to report on a tour of a resource center, and what some recovered patients,including people from Hokkaido,talked to us about at the two visits. Tohoku Shinseien is located in Tome City, Miyagi, 60km north of Sendai City. The site area is 352,149m^2. It opened on October 27, 1939. The residents have received long-term medical treatment away from their home, so the sanatorium is a place of daily life as well as a place of treatment for them. The number of fixed beds and residents were 770 beds and 628 people respectively on April 1, 1954, however, the present number of residents are on the decline due to dramatic decrease of the number of new generated patients, chemotherapy treatment,hospital discharge following remission, deaths, etc. (123 residents as of February 2011)