Campaign to detect leprosy & tuberculosis to begin on Tuesday in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: A joint campaign to detect leprosy and tuberculosis will start in Maharashtra from September 13 to find hidden cases in the community. The drive is scheduled to start from September 26 in Mumbai. Across Maharashtra, an estimated 8.66 crore population will be screened for the bacterial diseases that together affect thousands every year.
In Mumbai, the campaign will target a population of nearly 50 lakh people. Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC's executive health officer said that the special Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC) and active TB case detections had been carried out from 2018-19 to boost surveillance. Civic teams will visit nearly 10lakh homes, primarily in slums and slum-like areas, checking for signs of these diseases.
In Mumbai, 2,829 teams will carry out the surveillance activity, said Dr Amita Pednekar, medical superintendent of Acworth Leprosy Hospital, Wadala. She said that most cases in Mumbai are found among migrants, so door-to-door surveillance increases the chances of picking cases early since they constantly move for work.
The teams comprising community health volunteers will visit at least 25 houses daily and physically examine for signs of leprosy after taking history. The campaign will initially roll out in other parts of Maharashtra before it starts in Mumbai and Thane. In similar drives carried out in previous years, an average of 50-55 cases have been found every time. Though India technically eliminated leprosy in 2005 after its prevalence rate fell to less than 1/10,000 people, it continues to report over 1lakh cases annually. The majority of new leprosy cases found globally are reported from India.