Lok Sabha Question No. 226 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-02
Subject: Leprosy Patients
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: ANANDRAO  ADSUL, PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE, DHARMENDRA YADAV, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, Shrirang Appa Barne, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 226 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND FEBRUARY, 2018

## LEPROSY PATIENTS

## 226. SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL:

DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI SHIRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether as per World Health Organisation (WHO), 60 per cent of leprosy patients all over the world live in India and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is aware that the programmes being implemented for leprosy eradication are not effective a nd there is acute shortage of doctors for the purpose, if so, the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government is also aware that there are no proper arrangements for test and treatment of leprosy in district level hospitals in the country and if so, the details thereof along with the details of inquiries conducted in this regard;
- (d)  the  details  of  success  achieved  in eradication  of  leprosy  as  a  result  of  special campaign conducted by the Government; and
- (e) the details of co mprehensivestrategy prepared by the Government for total eradication of leprosy in the country and the extent to which the said policy is likely to be effective?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a): Yes. As per the World Health Organiz ation's Record India contributed to approximately 60% of the total global new cases of leprosy. Cases reported in India were 1 , 35, 485  from 1st April, 2016 to 31 st March, 2017 and total global cases of leprosy were 2 , 14, 783 from 1st January, 2016 to 31 st December, 2016.
- (b): Under National  Leprosy  Eradication  Programme  (NLEP) ,  s everal  innovations  are introduced  during  last  two  years  e.g.  Leprosy  Case  Detection  Campaign  (LCDC),  Focuse Leprosy Campaign, Case detection in hard to reach areas, Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign, Asha Based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects (ABSULS) and Grade II Disability investigati As a result of the above innovations , Grade II Disability amongst the new cases has come down significantly.
- (c): As per the guidelines of theN ational LeprosyEradication Programme (NLEP),there is a provision of one lab technician and other arrangements for the test at district level and there is provision of diagnosis and treatment in all the GovernmentHealth Facilities. The diagnosis of most of the leprosy cases can be done by Medical Officer just by examination of the sk other simple tests. In very special cases slit skin smear is required for which provision district l evel. Programme is being implemented by States/UTs under guidelines issued by NLEP.
- ( d) : The eradication of leprosy is the ultimate vision ofNLEP .  However, a lot of success has been  achieved  in  the  special  campaign  of  leprosy  in  the  form  of  Leprosy  Case D tection Campaign ( LCDC )campaign has been targeted in 23 States/UTs during 2017 - 18 and so far, the campaign has been conducted in 19 States/UTs covering 196 Districts wherein more than 22,000 new cases have been confirmedtill date .

On  30 th January,  2017 , Sparsh  Leprosy  Awareness  Campaign (SLAC) was  observed where in village level meetings were held by Gram Sabhas for leprosy awareness ,facilitated by respective multi - purpose  worker  (MPWs),  patwari,  gramsevak,  school  teacher,  ASHA  etc.,  at village level under supervision of Medical Officer imary  of  Pr Health  Centre (PHC). Prototypes activities for leprosy awareness were conducted in approximately 3.5 lakh vi during the fortnight as per the reports submitted by Sta tes/UTs. imilar activi ty on large scale is being organized during this year.

- (e): The comprehensive strategies under NLEP include the following innovations: -
- I. Early case detection: Three pronged strategy i.e. , i) Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (specific for high endemic districts), ii) Focused Leprosy Campaign (for hot spots i.e rural and urban areas where G2D is detected), iii) Special plan for case detection to reach areas.
- II. Enhanced Passive case detection: i) Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign ii)  ASHA basedSurveillance for Leprosy Suspects (ABSULS)
- III. Prevention of leprosy / Interrupt transmission: Post Exposure Prophylaxis administration to close contacts of new cases detected in LCDC districts.
- IV. Overall strengthening of the programme: i) Nikushth an online reporting system with Patient tracking mechanism, ii) G2D case investigation.

The Grade II Disability (G2D) rate trend which was rising till 2015 - 16, has decreased from 4.60% (2015 - 16) to 3.87% (2016 - 17) and approximately 2500 G2D cases were prevented during  2016 - 17. Strengthened  implementation  of  various  initiatives was ntroduced  during f inancial year 2016 - 17 to detect cases early enough before onset of disability.

The above undertaken measures have shownvery positive effect under the prog ramme in terms of decrease in case load and reduction of the transmission of the disease.