Leprosy
Mailing List, March 16th,
2009
Ref.:
In
India
alone 1.5 million new cases were detected within 6 years (from 2002 to
2007)
From:
Vijayakrishnan B., Secunderabad,
Andhra Pradesh
,
India
Dear
Dr Salvatore,
Elisabeth
Poorman (LML March 2nd, 2009) reflected the feelings of
people who work with the people affected by leprosy. The
word elimination had a political impact. It
has resulted in reduced attention and reduced funding in leprosy. The
whole attention was diverted to prevalence rate which speaks only the
number alive on the registers who currently takes MDT at given point
in time. I think Poorman
is rightly concerned about the majority of leprosy sufferers who need
attention. I don’t
think the condition of persons affected by leprosy after 6 or 12
months of MDT is equivalent to ‘persons with residual evidence of
small pox’ as referred by Dr Vijayakumaran (LML March 3rd,
2009).
In
India
alone 1.5 million new cases were detected within 6 years (from 2002 to
2007). Though we have programme plans to handle reactions and
complications, fieldworkers get frustrated with the plight of patients
who do not conform to expectations of ‘cure’. There is need for
more research and interventions in leprosy than it is available now.
With
best wishes,
Vijay
Director,
Programmes Development, LEPRA Society.
