Leprosy Case Detection Campaign

•  In a bid to eradicate Leprosy from India, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has launched the biggest Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC) in the country across 149 districts of 19 states/UTs.
• This is a fortnight-long campaign. It will cover 1656 blocks/urban areas of these districts and screen a total of 32 crore people for leprosy. For this purpose, 297604 teams comprising of one lady ASHA worker and one male volunteer each would visit every house in their allotted area and screen all the family members for leprosy.
• The states and UTs covered in this campaign are 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. The districts having a prevalence rate of more than one case per 10,000 population in any of the last three years have been included in this campaign.

About the campaign:

• The Leprosy Case Detection Campaign is a unique initiative of its kind in the world where each and every member of the targeted population will be examined by the search team constituted of one male and one female volunteer at household level.
• House to house visits will be done by the search team as per the micro plan prepared for the local area to detect hidden and undetected leprosy cases.
• The objective of the campaign is the early detection of leprosy in affected persons so that they can be saved from physical disability and deformity by providing them timely treatment and thus also halting the transmission of disease at the community level.
• The first LCDC was launched during March-April 2016 in 50 districts of 7 states covering a population of about 6.8 crores. During this campaign 65427 suspected cases were identified out of which 4120 were later confirmed.

About Leprosy

• Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast, rod-shaped bacillus. The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes.
• Leprosy is curable and treatment provided in the early stages averts disability.
• Multidrug therapy (MDT) treatment has been made available by WHO free of charge to all patients worldwide since 1995. It provides a simple yet highly effective cure for all types of leprosy.
• Elimination of leprosy as public health problem (with a prevalence less than 1 case per 10 000 persons) was achieved globally in the year 2000. More than 16 million leprosy patients have been treated with MDT over the past 20 years.
• Leprosy was recognized in the ancient civilizations of China, Egypt and India. Throughout history, people afflicted have often been ostracized by their communities and families.

By: Vishal