The Government has launched the biggest door-to-door campaign, a first of its kind in the world, to detect leprosy cases in high-endemic districts in 19 States to identify hidden cases and ensure early treatment of the crippling disease which impairs around 6,000 people every year in the country.
“Over 2 lakh volunteers including ASHAs and male workers are involved in the leprosy Case Detection Campaign (lCDC) launched from Monday in 1,656 blocks/urban areas and screen a total of 32 crore people for leprosy. All the family members in a household are being physically examined.
“Those identified with the symptoms will be referred to medical treatment,” said Anil Kumar, Deputy Director General, National leprosy Elimination Programme, Union Health Ministry.
The screening will go on till September 18 in 19 States including Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Jharkhand.
Kumar said the campaign was started after the active case detection was stopped in 2005 after leprosy was eliminated. While the number of cases went down, the hidden cases began to grow.
As per the Government data, after declining to 3019 in 2005, the grade II disability cases (damage to limbs and nerves) shot up to 5794 in 2014-15. The percentage of grade II disability amongst new cases detected has been increased from 3.10 per cent (2010-2011) to 4.61 per cent (2014-2015), which indicated that the cases were being detected late in the community.
The first lCDC was launched in March-April 2016 in 50 districts of 7 States, during which 65,427 suspected cases were identified out of which 4120 were later confirmed . With better surveillance, the government, however, says it has managed to cut down the projected disability cases from 6,500 to 5,851 in 2015-16. “Our ongoing intensive drive will further help bringing down the disability cases,” Kumar said adding that the identified cases will be monitored at the central level.
“The campaign is not limited to the 14 days but it will ensure that manpower is adequately trained and awareness is created which would help in early detection. We want people to come forward and register for medical services. Soon we will start administering Rifampicin drug as a preventive measure to the people in contact with the leprosy patients,” Kumar added.