E-Paper
Joint campaign to detect leprosy, TB cases in Pune district from Nov 20 to Dec 6
As many as 4,118 teams have been constituted in the district for the joint leprosy and tuberculosis detection campaign
A joint campaign will be conducted in Pune district from November 20 to December 6 to detect (hidden) cases of leprosy and tuberculosis in the community. The entire population of the district will be screened for the bacterial diseases which together affect thousands of people every year, officials said.
A review meeting was held at the district collector’s office Thursday afternoon to check preparedness for the campaign. The meeting was helmed by district collector Rajesh Deshmukh, who directed the health department to effectively implement the campaign in the district to make it a success. The meeting was attended by district health officer Dr Sachin Desai; district tuberculosis officer Dr Sanjay Darade; medical officer of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Dr Irfan Lohare; medical officer of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) Dr Anjali Dhone; medical officer of the district tuberculosis centre Jayant Kalkute; and deputy education officer of the Zilla Parishad Momin Asmabegan Mohammad Imaduddin among others.
Deshmukh said that the health department should survey each and every house in the district during the campaign. Block education officers, centre heads and headmasters should hold awareness camps about these diseases in every school. “Along with the health examination of school students, information sheets of the family members about leprosy and tuberculosis should be filled through the students,” said Deshmukh.
As many as 4,118 teams have been constituted in the district for the joint leprosy and tuberculosis detection campaign. As many as 56.13 lakh people from urban and rural areas of the district will be examined during the campaign with an aim to make the district leprosy- and tuberculosis- free by the year 2027. During the campaign, door-to-door surveillance and examination will be conducted, and citizens must cooperate, urged the collector.
Deshmukh, further informed that the campaign should also be implemented in the industrial sector. The Government Medical College should adopt 25 villages for the campaign. “The Gram Panchayats who are at the forefront of implementing the various schemes of the government should be involved in the campaign. The health department should make efforts to make Pune district leprosy- and tuberculosis-free,” he said.
A team of ASHA workers and male volunteers along with health workers will conduct door-to-door visits to check for symptoms of tuberculosis and leprosy. For the effective implementation of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme, primary information about the disease is continuously being given to all citizens so that new patients can be identified and treated at the early stages of the disease. This campaign will be important to break the chain of transmission of leprosy and tuberculosis by planning health education, early diagnosis, and early treatment, said the officials.
The leprosy rate in Pune district is 0.60 per every 10,000 people. From April 2023 to the end of November 2023, 318 new leprosy patients were detected and put on regular treatment. Till November, as many as 632 leprosy patients are undergoing treatment in Pune district. From January 2023 to the end of November, 6,132 tuberculosis patients are being treated under the National TB Elimination Programme.
