ERODE: Is Erode a hotspot of leprosy? This question would have lingered in the minds of those who heard Union Health Minister J P Nadda speak at the National Awareness Convention on Leprosy, in Chennai recently. According to him, the government has launched a screening programme with over 7.5 crore people screened in 50 high-prevalence districts in the first phase. As many as 65,000 suspected cases were detected, of which 5,000 were confirmed later. They are now under treatment. The second phase is on this month, in which 163 districts — including Erode — in 20 states will be covered.
Though health officials in the district have not refuted the minister’s ‘claim’, they assert that Erode was one of the few districts seriously implementing leprosy-related health programmes. “Sample surveys conducted in three blocks every year indicated that the prevalence is nearly one in 10,000 people. He (Nadda) spoke on that basis. But, the rate of leprosy cases is only nearly 0.45 per 10,000 here,’’ they argued.
Screening would begin in Namakkal, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai in the coming years as the situation there was similar to that of Erode, they added. The pilot project that began on September 6 will be on till September 19, during which period 1,541 teams, will visit 24 lakh houses. Each team member would cover 5,000 people or 350 houses. Separate teams would be posted to attend to migrant labourers in brick kilns and construction sites.
The teams mostly comprise anganwadi staff or local volunteers. They have been trained on how to identify the cases by screening all persons above two years of age. They will look for numb skin patches and provide a report on the same to health supervisors and village health nurses, who will visit those houses and persuade the suspected leprosy patients to go to the nearby Primary Health Centre (PHC) for treatment.
Before 1983, 112 cases per 10,000 were present in the district. But after the introduction of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme and Multi Drug Therapy (MDT), the disease could be cured by taking medicines for six months or a year.
Deputy Director (Health) Dr Balusamy said leprosy could spread to persons with low immunity, so the primary aim was to prevent its spread. Health staff should monitor patients even after they are cured. It is rare for leprosy to relapse as the MDT would wipe out the bacteria from the body. “Under the National Rural Health Mission, the plan is to wipe out the disease by 2021,” he added.
The Social Welfare Department runs a home for the persons cured of leprosy at Vinnapalli near Sathy. An NGO also runs a medical unit near Bhavani. Besides, a colony for those cured of leprosy functions near Marudamalai in Coimbatore. All PHCs and GHs give MDT drugs free of cost and a patient can get it from the PHC or GH once a month.