Nine districts yet to achieve goal

Expressbuzz, Sept 6, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: Although the scourge of leprosy has spared Orissa lately, new cases are still being reported. In the last few months, more and more new cases have been noticed.


The State achieved the goal of elimination of leprosy by July 2006. By March this year, the prevalence rate had dropped to 0.87 per 10,000 population.

The international norms say a prevalence rate of below 1 per 10,000 population is elimination achieved.

In as many as 21 districts and their 209 blocks, leprosy elimination goal was already achieved by March-end. In the remaining 105 blocks of the nine districts, the prevalence rate was above one per every 10,000 people and the State Government set itself a target of bringing it below one by 2009-10 by cutting down the caseload where elimination goal had already been achieved.

Interestingly, if by March, as many as 6,381 new cases were detected and sent for treatment after registration, as many as 2,453 more cases came up during April, May, June and July. It’s during this period that more cases are thrown up.

Besides, the districts where eradication goal is yet to be achieved, five more districts reported new cases.

The 14 districts where the leprosy cases have been detected are Deogarh, Nayagarh, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Nuapada, Balangir, Angul, Boud, Sonepur, Koraput, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal and Jharsuguda. Most of them are in interior and KBK regions where the elimination has not been achieved yet.

``A number of the cases which were detected have already been cured and the patients discharged. Since 1983, as many as 8,34,036 patients have been cured with the multi- drug therapy (MDT),’’ said a Health Department officer.

Besides, disability care services have been provided to 16,700-odd patients apart from reconstructive surgery which has been started in NIRTAR, Cuttack, VSS Medical College and Hospital, Burla, and District Headquarters Hospital at Jharsuguda.