While on the one hand the Centre is taking all efforts to ensure early detection of leprosy cases given that the disease is 100% curable, on the other, there still exists at least 108 discriminatory laws-three Union Laws and 105 State laws-- against persons affected by the disease. Though the number of leprosy cases have steadily declined worldwide, an estimated 2,00,000 cases continue to be reported every year, with India accounting for more than a half mainly because of the prevalent stigma associated with the disease.
Taking the matter with the Union Ministers of Law and Justice and Social Justice and Empowerment, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Thaawarchand Gehlot respectively, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday wrote a letter to the two Union Ministers as well as to the States urging them to amend the existing discriminatory laws against persons affected with leprosy.
“A leprosy affected person after treatment does not transmit the disease agent. Hence, there exists no justification for the continued stigmatization of the persons affected by leprosy,” Dr Harsh Vardhan pointed out.
“It will be a befitting tribute to the Father of the Nation on his 150th Birth Anniversary if we can expedite the process and introduce in Parliament the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy (EDPAL) Bill, which was drafted by the Law Commission of India”, the Minister said as he recalled that the Global Leprosy Strategy, 2016 - 2020 target is to reduce the number of countries with laws allowing discrimination on the ground of leprosy to zero.
The Minister’s letter comes months after the Lok Sabha passed a Bill doing away with leprosy as grounds for divorce. Gandhi Peace Prize winner and the World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination Yohei Sasakawa too had recently stressed that discriminatory laws against people with leprosy that still exists in India need to go immediately.
Dr Harsh Vardhan has also shot off a letter to the Chief Ministers of 23 States/UTs including Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Goa/Daman & Diu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Maharashtra, Bihar, Puducherry, Delhi, Rajasthan and North Eastern Region and Governor of J&K to work for the amendments of the existing discriminatory laws against the sector.
On its part, the Union Health Ministry has initiated various measures under the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) to control leprosy such as Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC) (specific for high endemic districts), Focussed Leprosy Campaign (for hot spots i.e., rural and urban areas), special plan for case detection in hard to reach areas, ASHA based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects (ABSULS) that have contributed to early case detection.
“Moreover, leprosy has become fully curable by Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT), being available free of cost at all the government health care facilities,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Welcoming the Ministry’s initiative, Sasakawa - India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF) Executive Director, Dr Vineeta Shanker said that the passage of the Edpal bill will be a huge step forward in removing any legal basis for discrimination and will also help to change mindsets and social perception about the disease which is fully curable.
