LEPROSY

Sept. 15, 2018

The Supreme Court has come out with a number of directions to end discrimination against leprosy-afflicted persons, while hearing a PIL, which alleged that the government was not taking enough steps to eradicate the disease.

Recent directions by Supreme Court to Centre and states:

  • Conduct Periodic National Surveys to determine the prevalence rate.

  • Formulate a comprehensive community-based rehabilitation scheme which shall cater to all basic needs of the leprosy-afflicted persons and their families.

  • Integrate treatment of leprosy into general health care, which will usher in a no-isolation method in general wards and OPD services.

  • Give wide publicity to the activities of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP).

  • Discontinue using “frightening images” of people afflicted with leprosy in the awareness programmes and instead use “positive images of cured persons sharing their experiences of being cured of leprosy”.

  • Ensure that drugs for management of leprosy and its complications are available free of cost and that they do not go out of stock in Primary Health Centres (PHCs).