Odisha govt to launch new leprosy drive starting from November 18

BHUBANESWAR: The government is all set to launch a fresh drive to detect new leprosy cases in the state from Monday. The move is being made as leprosy continues to be endemic in more than half of the districts in Odisha, despite being eliminated nationally with less than one case per 10,000 population.

The state is detecting more than 500 new cases a month making it one of the few endemic states, where prevalence is greater than one. As per the WHO criterion, leprosy is considered eliminated where the prevalence is less than one case.