Mumbai, Nov 15 (NationPress) The Maharashtra government is set to initiate a comprehensive leprosy case detection campaign from November 17 to December 2. During this period, dedicated health teams will conduct household inspections.

Adhering to the guidelines established by the Central Government, the state is continuing its annual effort to locate leprosy patients through an extensive door-to-door survey across all districts.

This year, a target population of 8.66 crore individuals and 1,73,25,000 households has been chosen for screening.

For the campaign, 65,832 teams along with 13,166 supervisors have been mobilized.

Each team, which includes one ASHA worker and one male volunteer, will visit 20 households in rural regions and 25 to 30 households in urban areas daily for physical examinations.

The survey will span 14 consecutive days, as stated in the government's announcement. This decision was made during a meeting of the State-level Public Awareness Committee for the leprosy detection campaign last Friday.

Individuals suspected of having leprosy will be assessed, and those confirmed with the condition will be promptly started on multi-drug therapy.

This campaign's objectives include uncovering hidden or undiagnosed cases, initiating treatment to disrupt the chain of transmission, raising public awareness about leprosy, and bolstering efforts toward achieving the target of 'zero leprosy transmission' by 2027.

To ensure effective execution, training workshops and coordination meetings are being held at state, district, and block levels, along with training sessions at primary health centres, according to the announcement.

The Maharashtra Government has also recently classified leprosy as a 'Notifiable Disease'. All medical professionals and health institutions must now report any confirmed leprosy cases to their respective District Health Office, Assistant Director of Health Services (Leprosy), and local civic health authorities within two weeks of diagnosis.

Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prakash Abitkar has urged all district guardian ministers, district collectors, and village sarpanches to facilitate the success of this campaign.

He has called upon all administrative bodies to identify the maximum number of leprosy patients within their districts and to implement the campaign effectively under their leadership.

The Health Department Secretary Nipun Vinayak has also reviewed the campaign and directed district collectors to ensure its successful implementation.

Residents have been encouraged to cooperate, and the Health Department has reiterated that leprosy treatment is free, effective, and accessible at all government health centres, according to the official announcement.

This initiative comes shortly after the World Health Organisation's Global TB Report 2025, which indicated that India's TB incidence has decreased by 21 percent — from 237 per lakh population in 2015 to 187 per lakh population in 2024 — significantly outpacing the global decline rate of 12 percent.

This marks one of the steepest declines in TB incidences worldwide, surpassing reductions seen in other high-burden countries.

Since its inception in December 2024, India’s flagship TB elimination initiative, the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, has made remarkable strides, screening over 19 crore vulnerable individuals for TB nationally and leading to the identification of over 24.5 lakh TB patients, including 8.61 lakh asymptomatic cases.

This proactive strategy is based on both global and local evidence highlighting the prevalence of asymptomatic (sub-clinical) TB in high-burden areas, as stated by the Union Ministry of Health.