New Delhi: In a bid to eradicate leprosy by 2027, the health ministry has urged states and Union territories to implement a revised treatment regimen for paucibacillary and multibacillary cases.
As per the new plan, the government has introduced a three-drug regimen for paucibacillary cases in place of a two-drug regimen for six months, being adopted internationally.
This new drug regime includes, referred to as multidrug therapy, is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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Paucibacillary leprosy is identified leprosy with one to five skin lesions, without the demonstrated presence of bacilli in a skin smear, while multibacillary refers to leprosy with more than five skin lesions or with nerve involvement.
“National Leprosy Eradication Program (NLEP) is taking all required steps to stop the transmission of Leprosy at the Sub-national level by 2027. Following which, the ministry of health and family welfare, GOI, introduced a 3-drug regimen for Pauci-Bacillary cases in place of a two-drug regimen of six months,” said a communication issued by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to all states and Union territories.
NLEP is a centrally sponsored scheme under the National Health Mission (NHM) wherein funds are provided to the state and Union territory governments as per their need, priority and absorption capacity.
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Interestingly, India achieved leprosy elimination status at the national level by the WHO when the disease prevalence rate was less than one per 10,000 population in 2005.
However, the government launched the National Strategic Plan and Roadmap for Leprosy (2023-2027) to achieve zero transmission of the disease three years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goal by 2030.
“There are a few districts within states and Union territories where leprosy is endemic. With various interventions introduced under NLEP in the last few years, the number of new leprosy cases detected have come down to around 31,000,” an official said.
In 2023, the government detected 31,088 leprosy cases in India across 17 states.
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The leprosy treatment market size is estimated to reach over $5,438.94 million by 2032 from $3,618.60 million in 2024, growing at a compounded annual rate of 5.3% from 2025 to 2032, as per Consegic Business Intelligence.
Queries sent to a health ministry spokesperson remained unanswered.