Bhubaneswar: For early diagnosis and complete treatment of leprosy patients, the State Government has made leprosy a reportable disease. The State Health and Family Welfare Department has issued a notification in this regard today.
#Odisha Government has declared #Leprosy as a ‘Reportable Disease’ in the State, & accordingly, all persons dealing with diagnosis, treatment & follow up in Govt or Pvt hospitals must report all diagnosed cases to the respective CDM&PHO/ADPHO within 2 weeks,” the Department said in X.
As per the notification, leprosy is an infectious disease and a major public health concern in the State and leads to physical deformity and morbidity if the patient is not treated early and is also associated with stigma and discrimination.
Leprosy is a curable disease with a full course of Multi Drug Therapy (MDT). Early diagnosis and complete treatment of leprosy is the cornerstone of Leprosy Prevention and Control strategy, it said.
“The State intends to bring down Leprosy infection and caseload to elimination level in a time bound manner and requires health personnel and field functionaries like Doctors, Pathologists / Microbiologists to report cases identified by them for due treatment follow up and Leprosy Post Exposure Prophylaxis (LPEP),” the Department said.
However, Leprosy registry is not being maintained properly at private health facilities and some of the Leprosy cases are remaining unreported and the State Government has found it imperative that all the diagnosed Leprosy cases should be reported to the appropriate authority for early diagnosis and complete treatment of the disease.
Therefore, the Government declared that “Leprosy” is a “Reportable Disease” in the “State of Odisha” and accordingly, all persons dealing with diagnosis ,treatment and follow up in hospitals (private or government), private practice, Institutions imparting Medical Education and providing diagnostic services, and any other healthcare relating to Leprosy shall mandatorily report all diagnosed cases of Leprosy to the respective CDM&PHO/ADPHO (Leprosy) of the concerned districts within a period of two weeks.
