India is currently chairing the Global Alliance for the Elimination of Leprosy. According to Dr C P Thakur, Union minister of Health and Family Welfare, India is maximising the availability of resources for leprosy treatment through the World Bank and other alliance partners. According to the WHO, access to information, diagnosis and treatment with multidrug therapy is essential to combat the disease. Information campaigns about leprosy in high-risk areas are crucial so that patients and their families, who are historically ostracised from their communities, are encouraged to come forward and receive treatment, the WHO said. Currently, only 23 per cent of TB patients worldwide have access to these services.
Tuberculosis is on the rise in India.
The disease is now attacking even the relatively well-off classes. Copyright 2000 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.