Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Aiming to trace and treat leprosy patients, the health department has planned to train the staff of beauty parlours and salons across the city to identify the symptoms of this often infectious disease.
On the occasion of ‘World Leprosy Day’, district leprosy officer Dr Madhav Hasani said, “We’ve planned to train the staff at beauty parlours and salons to identify the symptoms of the disease and trace the patients as soon as possible.” He said that the staff at beauty parlours and salons go through the parts of their customers’ skin and, if they can identify the symptoms, they can spread awareness among the people and encourage them to go in for treatment. “Early diagnosis and treatment of any patient can save them from permanent disability and deformities in the body,” Dr Hasani added.
Over 331 new patients of leprosy were found by the department in the last financial year and treatment of these patients is going on.
‘Common symptoms’
‘Common symptoms of the disease include spots on the skin, which don’t burn or hurt, which usually appear on the arms, legs, or back and may be darker or lighter than the colour of the patient’s skin. Other symptoms include eye issues, such as loss of blinking reflex, dry eyes, ulcers, hair loss, numbness and tingling on the skin spots, foot ulcers and others’
— Dr Madhav Hasani, district leprosy officer
Awareness rally taken out
§ To observe ‘World Leprosy Day’, the health department and District Leprosy Advisory Committee and Lepra Society took out a rally from MTH Compound to Regal Square
§ A pledge to fight against the scourge of leprosy was also read out by the members and it was also read out at all the health centres in the rural areas, as well
City docs monitoring patients of Barwani
§ Dr Hasani said that the 16 leprosy activists have found 100 new leprosy patients in the Varla area of Barwani district
§ These patients have been taken care of under the supervision of state leprosy officer Dr Subhash Pandey, who also visited Barwani to ensure treatment and care of the patients
