31,660 new cases of leprosy detected: Govt

Alarmed over India reporting 60 per cent of leprosy cases in the world, the Health Ministry launched a massive door-to-door campaign to detect "hidden" cases and more than 31,000 new patients were identified under it, Lok Sabha was informed today.
"Yes. A massive door-to-door campaign named "Leprosy Case Detection Campaign" (LCDC) was launched by National Leprosy Eradication Programme to detect hidden cases of the disease.
"The campaign was conducted during March-April and September-October. 31,660 cases were reported during this exercise," Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste said in a written reply.
He said that to reduce the under-reporting of leprosy cases, a three-pronged strategy has been introduced for their early detection. These include leprosy case detection campaign in high endemic districts, focused leprosy campaign for hot spots of low endemic areas and special plan for case detection in hard to reach areas.

"India contributes to approximately 60 per cent of the world's leprosy patients. 12,57,85 cases were reported in the country in 2014-15, while 1,27,334 were reported in 2015-16," he said.