From the Chairman’s Desk

February 2017 Newsletter

INDIA’S ENDEAVORS AGAINST LEPROSY ORIGIN OF LEPROSY

Leprosy is thought to have originated in East Africa or South Asia in the Late Pleistocene Age and migrated to

India around 2000 B.C.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEPROSY

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the slow-growing bacterium “Mycobacterium

leprae”, which resembles little fingerprints clustered together under the microscope, gets

around through little droplets from the noses and mouths of infected persons.

STIGMATIZING SYMBOLS OF LEPROSY

Left untreated, leprosy spreads through the skin and peripheral nerves, damaging the nerves in the hands and feet,

causing a loss of sensation and muscle paralysis, particularly at the extremities. The deadening of hands and feet

leaves patients prone to the kinds of disabling injuries that have become stigmatizing symbols of leprosy.

INDIA, WORLD’S LEPROSY EPICENTRE

According to WHO, leprosy affected 212,000 people globally in 2015. Of these new cases, 127,326 were

reported from India, which accounted for 60% of the new cases globally.

In 2015-2016, 5,851 leprosy cases with “GRADE 2” disabilities were detected in India as compared to

3,865 in 2011-2012. Grade 2 disabilities refer to the presence of visible and often permanent deformities caused by damage to the patient’s peripheral nervous system, which excludes nerves in the brain and the spinal cord. These deformities include muscle damage in the fingers, toes and visual impairment, which affect day to day activities such as holding objects, wearing slippers, cooking, typing, etc.

A patient with leprosy develops severe disabilities only if the condition is left untreated for at least two

years from the time of infection.

According to WHO, India is among the 22 countries considered as having a “high burden for leprosy”

along with high transmission.

DOOR-TO-DOOR SURVEY IN 2016

Recognizing the need to find leprosy cases in India, the Indian Government in 2016 conducted a massive door-

to-door survey. The survey covered 360 million people and reported 31,666 new cases, including 3,755 children.

GLOBAL LEPROSY STRATEGY 2016-2020

In 2016, WHO launched the Global Leprosy Strategy 2016-2020, in

order to accelerate towards a leprosy-free world, with the aim of rein-

vigorating efforts to control leprosy and avert disabilities, especially

among children affected by the disease in endemic countries. The strat-

egy emphasizes the need to sustain expertise and increase the number of

skilled leprosy staff to motivate the leprosy affected persons to avail

medical services in order to reduce visible deformities (also called

Grade 2 deformities) as well as stigmatization associated with leprosy.

CONCLUSION

India, which is among the endemic countries, has been advised to include strategic interventions in national plans to

meet the new targets, such as screening all close contacts of persons affected by leprosy; promoting a shorter and uni-

form treatment regimen and incorporating specific interventions against stigmatization and discrimination.

-N.Slesser Babu

VISIT OF Mr.Bijoy Kumar Swain, National POID Manager February 12th to 16th 2017

Mr.Bijoy Kumar Swain, National POID Manager visited RISDT from February 12th to 16th 2017. He held separate dis-

cussions with Mr.N.Slesser Babu, Chairman, RISDT and Dr.J.P.Palla, Medical Superintendent, RISDT’s Referral Lep-

rosy Hospital on the implementation of CDLCP. In a meeting with the Divisional Coordinators of CDLCP, he suggest-

ed certain procedural guidelines for CDLCP, which is in its final stages of implementation. He offered creative sugges-

tions for rectifying the observations in the RISDT’s Annual Report for the period January to December 2016.

Mr.Bruno Jehle, Founder, RISDT, Kathipudi attends Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam,

Andhra Pradesh, India January 28th 2017

Mr.Bruno Jehle, Founder, Rural India Self Development Trust, Kathipu-di arrived in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, on January 28th 2017 to attend the Partnership Summit. At this Summit, he had the hon-or to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) along with the

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mr.Chandrababu Naidu.

The MoU is an agreement between Mr.Bruno Jehle and Government of

Andhra Pradesh. It empowers Mr.Bruno (i) to impart training on Solar

Power Experiment (SOPEX) in the High Schools in East Godavari dis-

trict, Andhra Pradesh and (ii) to impart “SURYAMITRA COURSE” of

90 days duration to sponsored candidates in partnership with National

Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) and New Renewable Energy Develop-

ment Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP). Both Departments

are of Government of India/Andhra Pradesh.

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Referral Hospital (RISDT)

Seetayammapeta,

Kathipudi 533 444

Sankhavaram Mandal

East Godavari District. AP, India

90-1-5/1, Swaraj Nagar,

Alcot Gardens,

Rajahmundry 533 101,

AP, India

Phone: +91 883 242 5367

Phone: +91 8868 234 507

e-mail: risdtindia@gmail.com

Website: www.risdt.org

RISDT

CELEBRATION OF ANTI-LEPROSY FORTNIGHT

January 30th to February 13th 2017

Mahatma Gandhi is the revered leader of India. He laid his life for the cause of the Indian nation on January 30th

1948. Every year his Martyrdom Day is celebrated as “Anti-Leprosy Day” all over India. In recent years, the Anti-

Leprosy Day is being celebrated as “ANTI-LEPROSY FORTNIGHT” (January 30th to February 13th 2017).

In the year 2017, Anti-Leprosy Fortnight had been celebrated from January 30th to February 13th as “SPARSH LEP-

ROSY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN” in all the states of India. The main objectives of the campaign are (i) to create

awareness about leprosy disease, it’s cure and it’s permanent eradication, in every Indian village and (ii) to motivate

the people to get rid of the social stigma against leprosy and against persons affected by leprosy (PALs).

The Sparsh Leprosy Awareness campaign was implemented in RISDT’s CDLCP area too (in the East Godavari dis-

trict, Andhra Pradesh). The CDLCP Divisional Coordinators had scrupulously coordinated with the officials of the

Government’s Health Department, in the implementations of the campaign. Several public awareness meetings and

programs were successfully conducted in the villages in the jurisdiction of the Divisional Coordinators during the

Campaign period (January 30th to February 13th 2017).

SCIENCE FAIR AT THE REFERRAL ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL, KATHIPUDI

February 28th 2017

Every year since 1987, National Science Day is celebrated in India on February 28th. On this day in 1928, the re-nowned Indian Scientist, Sir C.V.Raman discovered the famous “Raman Effect” about scattering of light. He was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery in 1930. In the schools and educational institutions in India, Na-

tional Science Day is celebrated every year by organizing Science Fairs.

At the Referral English Medium School, Kathipudi too, on the occasion of the National Science Day, a grand Science

Fair was organized. It was inaugurated by Mr.G.Rajagopalrao, Secretary, RISDT. The students of the school pre-

pared and presented 365 innovative models. Some of them are Solar City Model, Purification of Water, Drip Irriga-

tion, Low calorie food samples, etc. The solar city model captured the attention of all the spectators at the Science

Fair. Mr.R.Praveen, Coordinator, Mr.P.Anil Kumar, Principal, participated in the Science Fair. Parents of the school

students and a number of students from neighbouring schools visited the Science Fair. Mr.Rajendra Prasad, Motor

Vehicle Inspector, Kathipudi was the Chief Guest. Mr.N.Slesser Babu, Chairman, RISDT gave away the prizes to the

students whose entries were adjudged the best.

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