Maharashtra resumes annual leprosy detection drive for sixth year

The state is once again conducting the Leprosy Case Detection Campaign LCDC this year continuing the effort for the sixth consecutive year as per the Centrersquos release on FridayBetween November 17 and December 2 an extensive survey will be carried out across all districts of Maharashtra to identify leprosy patients according to the release by the central governmentThis yearrsquos campaign will cover a population of 866 crore and 17325000 households A total of 65832 teams and 13166 supervisors have been appointed for the drive Each team will visit 20 houses per day in rural areas and 25 to 30 houses per day in urban areas for direct physical examinations as per the release Every team will consist of one ASHA worker and a male volunteer and they will conduct the survey for 14 consecutive daysA meeting of the statelevel Leprosy Awareness Committee was held on Friday under the chairmanship of Dr Kadambari Balkawade Director of Health Services and Mission Director of the National Health Mission The meeting was attended by Dr Rajratna Waghmare Joint Director of Health Services Tuberculosis and Leprosy Dr Sanjaykumar Jathar Assistant Director of the State Health Education and Communication Department Dr Alok Khobragade from Doordarshan Rajesh Shejawale from Akashvani Mumbai Vincent KA Senior Programmer at ALERT India Maya Ranavre President of APAL Madina Shaikh from the Maharashtra Leprosy Patientsrsquo Association and state coordinator Vikas SawantPublic Health and Family Welfare Minister Prakash Abitkar has written to all district guardians ministers district collectors and village sarpanches urging them to ensure the success of the campaign He has appealed to all administrative bodies to provide proper guidance so that the highest possible number of leprosy cases are identified and confirmed under their leadership Similarly the Health Departmentrsquos Principal Secretary Dr Nipun Vinayak has reviewed the campaign in detail and written to all district collectors requesting their support for successful implementation Citizens across the state have also been urged to cooperate The Health Department has emphasised that leprosy treatment is completely free effective and easily available through all government health facilitiesSuspected patients will be examined by medical officers and if diagnosed with leprosy they will immediately be started on multidrug therapy The campaign aims to find hidden or undiagnosed leprosy patients through housetohouse surveys bring them under treatment break the chain of transmission raise public awareness and strengthen progress toward the goal of ldquozero leprosy transmission by 2027rdquo To ensure effective implementation statelevel training workshops on survey procedures are being conducted along with coordination committee meetings at the district and taluka levels and training for field teams at primary health centresTo curb the spread of leprosy in the state and ensure timely treatment for patients the Maharashtra Government has recently declared leprosy a ldquonotifiable diseaserdquo the release said As per this decision it is now mandatory for all doctors and health institutions to report every diagnosed leprosy case to the District Health Office the Assistant Director Health Services ndash Leprosy and local civic health authorities within two weeks of diagnosis