Observing National Leprosy Elimination Program Activities in Tamil Nadu, India

India is one of main leprosy endemic countries in the world. The number of registered cases in India in 2001 was accounted for 64% of the world load. During the repeated Leprosy Elimination campaigns (LEC) carried out in the recent years in India, a great number of new cases were detected. Although there was a decline trend in the number of newly detected cases in the subsequent LECs, the total number of newly detected cases was shown no markedly decrease. As a leprosy worker from China, I was eager to learn about the National Leprosy Elimination Program activities that had been carried out in the field In India, because it would be helpful to me to understand the situation of leprosy in India and also helpful to China Leprosy Control Program.

During the study at the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), India Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India under the support of World Health Organization (WHO), I was happy to have an opportunity to visit the field of Tiruvanamalai District, Tamil Nadu, India for observing the National Leprosy Elimination Program activities under the arrangement of Danmark Leprosy Foundation (DANLEP) and the National Institute of Epidemiology during 12~13 August, 2003.

By Shen Jianping