Awry
Roshan Lal (name changed), a resident of Noida, Uttar Pradesh (up), finds it strange that the Indian government could be contemplating eradicating leprosy by 2005 end. At The Leprosy Mission Hospital, Nand Nagari, Delhi, Lal is undergoing reconstructive surgery on his deformed hands and says he sees enough new patients to be convinced that the target is unachievable. The hospital received 15 new leprosy cases in May 2005, 10 of them of the more severe (multibacillary) variety. Experts also believe the "eradication' might happen only on paper.
India has the world's highest concentration of the disease: 60 per cent of the total and 75 per cent of all new cases. Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a bacterium that affects the skin, mucous membranes and the peripheral nerves. The World Health Organization (who) had in 1991 decided to eliminate it globally by 2000. The idea was to bring down its incidence to a maximum of one case per 10,000 persons