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National Leprosy Elimination Programme

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WHAT IS LEPROSY?   123

  • A slow progressive disease
  • Very low mortality
  • Increase burden on society
  • Infectious disease caused by M. larvae
  • Germs multiply very slowly
  • Communicated by prolonged close contact through droplet infection
  • Poor awareness, stigmatized by society
  • Cause disabilities
  • Poor transmission
  • Affects skin & peripheral nerves
  • Incubation period: 3-5 yrs.

SIGNS OF LEPROSY

  • Pale or slightly reddish patch
  • Signs of damage to nerves
  • Weakness of muscles of hands/feet/face
  • Definite loss of sensation in the patch
  • Definite loss of sensation in hands/feet
  • Visible deformity of hands/feet/face

HOW TO DIAGNOSE LEPROSY?

  • Examine skin
  • Test for sensation
  • Look for damage to nerves
  • Check for patches
  • Count the number of patches

HOW TO EXAMINE FOR LEPROSY?

  • Examine in a well-lit room
  • Ask since when the patch was noticed
  • Test for sensation
  • Examine the whole body
  • Ask what treatments have been tried
  • Look for any visible deformities

CHECK FOR LOSS OF SENSATION

  • Take a pointed soft object (feather, cotton wick)
  • Lightly touch alternately the patch & normal skin
  • Ask the person to point where they were touched
  • Ask them to close their eyes and repeat the procedure
  • In case of loss of sensation the person will be able to point to where they were touched on the normal skin but not on the patch

CLASSIFICATION FOR TREATMENT

  • The diagnosis is made based on finding definite loss of sensation in one or more patches.
  • When you have examined the whole body, count the number of patches.
  • 1-5 patches is pauci bacillary (PB), more than 5 patches is multi bacillary (MB) leprosy

INFORMATION TO PATIENTS ABOUT THE DISEASE

  • Caused by a bacteria
  • Progresses slowly
  • Lead normal life, do not change life style
  • Affects skin and sometimes nerves
  • Easy to diagnose and cure

INFORMATION TO PATIENTS ABOUT THE TREATMENT

  • MDT will cure you completely
  • MDT is free of cost
  • MDT is available in all health centers
  • MDT should be taken as advised (regular, full course)
  • If you have problem or questions contact your health centre
  • The medicines are available at all Sub centers, SADs, PHCs and CHCs

STEPS TO START MDT

  • Classify as PB or MB leprosy
  • Explain the MDT blister pack
  • Inform the patient about the disease
  • Show drugs to be taken once a month and every day
  • Explain possible side effects (e.g. darkening of skin) and possible complications and when they must return to the health centre
  • Ask the patient when it is convenient for him/her to come back to the health centre. Give enough MDT blister packs to last until the next visit.
  • Fill out the patient treatment card.
  • Avoid self Medication. Always take a professional advise.

Treating a case with Multi Drug Therapy Leprosy(MDTL) - one of the few diseases which can be eliminated.

  • Leprosy meets the demanding criteria for elimination
  • Practical and simple diagnostic tools; can be diagnosed on clinical signs alone
  • The availability of an effective intervention to interrupt its transmission/ multi drug therapy.
  • A single significant reservoir of infection: humans Leprosy

National Leprosy Elimination programme phase II is running from the year Ist April 2001. The main objective of the project is to achieve the targets set by the GOI of bringing down the leprosy prevalence rate to 1 or below 1 per 10000 populations.

The prevalence rate of leprosy in Uttarakhand state was 28.77/10000 in the year 1986, which has been brought down to 0.64/10000 as of March 2007

Objective

The objective of the project was to reduce the PR of leprosy to 1 or below 1/10000

The PR of Uttarakhand as on March 2007 is 0.64/10000