Leprosy is an air borne infection which attacks persons with low immunity. It may lead to permanent disability if not detected and treated in time.
In 2005, India had proudly declared itself free from leprosy. Yet, current figures show that this is far from the truth. According to figures accessed by DNA by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) cases of the dreaded diseases have been increasing year by year.
In 2015-16, India recorded 1, 27, 326 cases of leprosy, an increase of 1.22% from last year where 1, 25, 785 cases of leprosy was detected. In fact since 2005 cases of Grade II or permanent disabilities due to leprosy have constantly been rising over the past decade. In 2007- 08, 3477 cases of disability were recorded. This has now risen to 5,857 cases in 2015-16 — an alarming 68 percent.
“The rise in cases of disability is a bad sign. This disability occurs when an active case of leprosy infection goes unreported for a long time and is untreated for over two years of active infection,” said Dr Anil Kumar, deputy director general (Leprosy), MoHFW.
Leprosy is an air borne infection which attacks persons with low immunity. It may lead to permanent disability if not detected and treated in time.
Doctors say that a case of leprosy will start showing signs of disability like loss of fingers and toes in two years since the setting in of the infection. If symptoms like discolouration, oily patches or nodules on the skin are reported early, disability can be avoided by starting timely treatment.
The spike in cases has raised alarm bells in the Indian government. Even as leprosy stood eliminated from India, which means less than one case was recorded in a population of 10,000 or one lakh, the MoHFW is now launching a massive screening campaign to pick up cases of infection in 19 high risk states.
Starting September 5, the MoHFW launched a campaign to screen 32 crore persons in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Delhi and Lakshadweep.
For a country as diverse and populous as India, elimination of Leprosy at ‘national’ level can be misleading. In the recent most mass screening, MoHFW notes that it intends to cover all districts in high-burden states that have a prevalence rate of more than one Leprosy case in a population of 10,000 in the past three years. Health officials admit that certain pockets in such districts record a prevalence of as high as eight cases of leprosy in a population of 10,000.
‘Elimination’ means recording less than one case of prevalence of a disease in a population of 10,000. On the other hand, ‘Eradication,’ means reducing the incidence of the disease to zero and not recording any more cases of that disease. According to available data, three in every 10,000 persons in Chattisgarh are actively infected with Leprosy, while in Odisha 2 in every 10,000 persons are infected. In Delhi, Chandigarh and Gujarat, the prevalence is more than one case in a population of 10,000.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "leprosy")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}