Mira-Bhayandar: The health department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has detected 45 fresh cases of tuberculosis (TB) and four cases of non-contagious leprosy in its 14-day campaign which was undertaken between November 20 and December 6.
The leprosy case detection campaign (LCDC) was an initiative under the National Leprosy Control Programme (NLEP) which was conducted in tandem with the active case-finding (ACF) to out to potentially missed leprosy and TB patients.
MBMC officials conducted door-to-door survey
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 conducted door-to-door visits at 68,519 households and checked 885 suspected people with possible symptoms of leprosy and detected four people suffering from non-contagious leprosy.
TB and leprosy cases soar
Similarly, out of the 2,894 people tested, 45 were found to be suffering from TB. With the latest additions the total number of TB patients undergoing treatment in the twin-city stands at 1,250 and the number of active leprosy cases is pegged at 21.
Alongside with their regular visits, health workers will continue following up with homes which were found locked during the campaign, said an health officer. The objective of the campaign was to understand the risk factor of individuals to ensure early detection of leprosy and TB so that they could be saved from physical disability and deformity by providing timely treatment and thus stopping the transmission of the diseases at the community level.
