Koraput: In the past few years, the number of leprosy patients in Koraput district has increased substantially due to lack of awareness. It is alleged that awareness campaigns for the eradication of leprosy are not being conducted in the area.
A district-level workshop on the eradication of leprosy was organised at local Skill Development Centre Saturday. The workshop was inaugurated by the Additional Collector, Debendra Pradhan, who was the chief guest on the occasion. Addressing the participants, he said that, “If we can educate people and make them aware of what causes leprosy and the various ways to eradicate the disease, it can be detected as well as cured at an early stage.
According to Dr. Anil Kumar Sahu, currently 251 leprosy patients are undergoing treatment in various hospitals of the district, as compared to 183 patients in the past year.
The workshop was attended by CDMO, Dr. Lalit Kumar Rath, Tulsi Kirsani, vice-chairman of Zilla Parishad, ADMO Arun Kumar Padhi, District Social Welfare Officer Simanchal Mahapatra, Ashok Mohanty and Chandrasekhar Pattnayak among others.
PNN