History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Ecuadorian DermatologyIn 1911, under the presidency of General Eloy Alfaro, the patients were moved to Pifo,to a building that belonged to the community of Jesuit Fathers that had been expelled.In 1922, with Dr. Isidro Ayora as president, the Green Cross leprosarium was built,with a capacity for 150 patients; it was inaugurated on April 2, 1927, as a national leprosarium.Its first head was Dr. Eduardo Egas, who stayed in office until 1933. The asylumwas built with the aim of isolating patients: it was a “jail-hospital.” Nowadays, smallwalls from that time still subsist. There were “speaking windows” with nets and wirethrough which patients talked with their relatives or dictated their letters. There was nocurrency there, and instead, stamps equivalent to paper currency circulated. Social welfarehelped with what was known as la masita (“the small amount of dough”), a dailysubsidy of which the denomination is still used, and which comes from a piece of doughto make bread that patients were given when they stayed at the St. Lazarus Hospital.They were kept isolated behind closed doors for the rest of their lives.In 1933, Dr. Luis Rendón, who had carried out Dermatology studies in the UnitedStates, was appointed Head, remaining in office for seventeen consecutive years andbeing fortunate enough to be witness to the emergence of the miraculous drug againstleprosy: sulfones. He took the necessary steps to have it brought into the country, whereit began to be used in 1947. With Dr. Rendón, the anti-leprosy campaign started inEcuador.In 1948, in Quito, Dr. Gonzalo Hernández completed his Ph.D. thesis on “Census ofLeprosy in Ecuador” and replaced Dr. Rendón at the head of the campaign; he found thatthe most affected provinces were El Oro, Azuay, Loja, Imbabura, Bolívar and Carchi.In 1957, Dr. Gonzalo González was appointed Head; he had written his Ph.D. thesis in1947 on the treatment of leprosy with promanade. At this time the leprosarium experiencednotable changes and transformations. The old barriers of distrust crumbled. Thehandling of money and the free exchange of mail became permitted; the speaking windowsdisappeared, and the place began to look like a true hospital. Thanks to the HardeseenGerman Catholic foundation, the construction of the hanseniasis patient citadelwas begun. Dr. González remained as Head until 1968, when he died prematurely.As of that date, Dr. Mario Sarzosa took over, continuing to work with the same enthusiasmfor the rehabilitation of the hanseniasis patient. The leprosy asylum was transformedinto a Sanatorium that carries the name of the illustrious Dr. Gonzalo González.Dr. Sarzosa devoted more than thirty years of his life to the rehabilitation of the hansenisispatient.In February 1970, Dr. Holger Garzón was appointed Head; he wrote his Ph.D. thesison “Epineurolysis of Peripheral Nerves.” He took care to continue the transformation ofthe Sanatorium; he gave a different look to the infirmary services, created the Dermatologyoutpatient unit and finished the construction of sixteen houses for patients ofHansen’s disease.In accordance with the requirements of the WHO, he requested and obtained thetransformation of the Sanatorium into the Gonzalo González Dermatology Hospitalthrough ministerial agreement No. 3,131, dated August 14, 1980, published in officialrecord No. 257, of August 21 of the same year, signed by Dr. Humberto Guillén, Ministerof Health.In the last two decades of the twentieth century, Quito’s Dermatology has constantlygrown. Congresses, Sessions and every other dermatological event held at the nationallevel always had the active presence of its dermatologists.Added to this participation is the carrying out in Quito of the most important dermatologicalevents, as can be shown by the organization and holding of the Second, Fifth,Eighth and Eleventh Ecuadorian Congresses of Dermatology, the latter one in July 2003.Two of what were formerly called Triangulars of Dermatology and more than ten NationalSessions of Dermatology have also been held.201