BRAZIL: Lepers

Lepers were on the loose in Rio. Slipping out of a Sࣀ Paulo asylum and eluding spotters, at least a dozen of them entered the capital, mingled in cinema crowds, sipped coffee at sidewalk cafes. They told horrifying stories of life in the leprosaria: the guards were brutal, the food inedible, medical care nonexistent.

A Sào Paulo Red Cross worker recently investigated the leprosaria, substantiated many of the chronic complaints, and caused the firing of leprosarium director Dr. Sales Gomes. Likely result of the new hubbub: the sacking of his successor, Dr. Nelson de Campos.