Sri Lankan Tamils in a rehabilitation camp at Ramanathapakkam village in Walajah taluk in Ranipet district were screened for deformities and other infections related to leprosy on Saturday.
Health officials said the Sri Lankan Tamils in Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur districts were not screened for infections related to leprosy for many years. The Public Health Department took the anti-leprosy week celebrations as an opportunity to screen them in their camps starting from Ranipet district. “They are an unscreened population of deformities and other infections related to leprosy for many years. After completing the screening in rehabilitation camps in Ranipet, we will bring other camps in Vellore and Tirupattur under scanner,” B. Preetha, Deputy Director (Leprosy), Vellore, told The Hindu.
The three districts have around 3,500 families, with each rehabilitation camp sheltering at least 300 families. The neighbouring Tiruvannamalai district has 3,550 families.
In the undivided Vellore district (that includes Ranipet and Tirupattur), on an average, 100 - 150 leprosy cases are reported every year. As on January 31 this year, 78 patients are under treatment in these districts and the number of new cases stand at 70. Higher prevalance of the disease is found among migrant labourers in these districts.
Nine-member team
In Ranipet, a nine-member medical team comprising a doctor, a health educator and four health inspectors screened around 100 Sri Lankan Tamil families on the first day of the three-day camp. The team would also screen other residents, including narikuravas and industrial workers, during the fortnight-long campaign against leprosy.
One of the major reasons for late detection of persons affected with leprosy, health officials said, was due to the long incubation period of the disease. It takes, on an average, 3-5 years to detect symptoms of the disease resulting in damage to the nervous system. Some of the symptoms include formation of a large patch for a long period without itching; decrease or total loss of sensation in limbs and foot and clawing of fingers, feet drops. Early detection, for example a single patch, can be treated successfully, health officials said.
The World Leprosy Day in the country is celebrated on January 30 to commemorate the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The date was chosen by French humanitarian Raoul Follereau as a tribute to the life of the Mahatma, who had compassion for people afflicted with leprosy. The 2022 year’s theme was ‘United for Dignity’.
