Pune, Tuesday, July 27, 2010: A national sample survey to assess the disease burden of leprosy will get under way in the city from Monday. Dr Arjun Wangikar, in-charge of the supervisory urban leprosy unit, said that a house-to-house survey will be taken up at six places including three slums covering a population of 2.5 lakh at 42, 716 houses.

A team of 24 health workers from Pimpri Chinchwad, Sassoon General hospital, Pune Zilla Parishad and Ashok Kala Niketan from Bopodi will assist the leprosy unit in conducting the survey which aims at estimating the new case load in the study population and also understand the magnitude of stigma and discrimination faced by the leprosy affected patients.

Slums like Janata Vasahat, Parvati Paytha, Dandekar Pul - Duttawadi and Ramwadi at Kalyaninagar along with Mahatma Vasahat at Kothrud and Kondhwa areas will be surveyed.

Wangikar said the government wants to arrive at the realistic figures of the leprosy affected persons. In Pune, 124 leprosy patients are under treatment.

Ref: Indian Express