The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Propagate scientific facts on leprosy: Barnala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 08, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Propagate scientific facts on leprosy: Barnala

Special Correspondent

"Ignorance led to segregation and isolation of patients with leprosy"

APPRECIATING ART: Governor Surjit Singh Barnala looks at a painting by a leprosy patient at a workshop in Chennai on Tuesday. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI: The media had a moral and social responsibility to change the attitude and behaviour of people towards leprosy by propagating scientific facts, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala said here on Tuesday.

Ignorance and superstition had led to the segregation and isolation of patients with leprosy. There were 630 leprosy colonies in India, of which 42 were in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Barnala said, adding that those affected must be reintegrated into the community. Deformity did not mean the presence of the disease, and the incidence of leprosy had dropped to 0.85 per 10,000 population in Tamil Nadu.

Remarkable progress

Mr. Barnala was speaking at the inaugural of a media workshop on leprosy, organised by the Hindu Kusht Nivaran Sangh (HKNS) and IDEA India. In the 1980s, Tamil Nadu had the largest number of leprosy patients, but the multi-drug therapy and the activism of the government and non-governmental organisations had led to remarkable progress.

Mr. Barnala released the "Chennai Declaration of Dignity," taken by persons with leprosy, and distributed prizes to the winners of a poster-making contest.

Tamil Nadu was also the first state to merge leprosy services with the general health services, IDEA president P.K. Gopal said. IDEA was started in 1996 by persons affected by the disease.

H. Srinivasan, surgeon and leprologist, said there were originally three angles to the disease: medical, public health and sociological. The medical angle had been sorted out with the multi-drug treatment working wonders. The public health angle had also been resolved, but the sociological problem caused by stigma and discrimination continued. T. Kirubakaran, secretary, HKNS-Tamil Nadu branch, spoke.

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