The health department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has embarked on a fortnight long campaign to detect hidden cases of leprosy and tuberculosis (TB) in the twin-city.
The campaign started on November 20 and will continue till December 6. The leprosy case detection campaign (LCDC) is a unique initiative under the National Leprosy Control Programme (NLEP) which will be conducted in tandem with the active case-finding (ACF) to out to potentially missed leprosy and TB patients.
Campaign's objective
The objective of the campaign is the early detection of leprosy and TB in affected persons so that they can be saved from physical disability and deformity by providing them timely treatment and thus stopping the transmission of the diseases at the community level. Armed with a targeted health assessment questionnaire and detailed knowledge about the symptoms, 162 teams from the health department consisting of auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) and accredited social health activists (ASHA) volunteers under the supervision of health inspectors have started conducting door-to-door visits to understand the risk factor of an individual.
Survey to cover 30 percent of the population
The survey is aimed at covering 30 percent of the population (3,39,592 people) from the urban, rural, coastal and tribal areas who fall in the risk category will be examined in the campaign. “The project aims at active surveillance to detect cases, rather than wait for people to come to hospitals. The compiled date will be used for further diagnosis and to chalk out an elaborate roadmap for proper treatment.” said a senior health officer.
While the total number of TB patients undergoing treatment in the twin-city stands at 1,900, the number of active leprosy cases is pegged at 32, last year, 24 patients recovered from the illness. On the other hand, 32 patients are currently undergoing treatment for communicable and non-communicable diseases and 24 people suffering from leprosy were cured last year. This campaign is extremely crucial to break the chain of transmission of leprosy and tuberculosis by planning health education, early diagnosis and timely treatment.
