Reddy N Vineetha, Sinha Preema, Yadav Arun Kumar, Kothari Rohit, Radhakrishnan Subramaniyan, Neema Shekhar
Medical Cadet, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, India.
Senior Adviser & Professor (Dermatology), Base Hospital, Lucknow, UP, India.
Med J Armed Forces India. 2022 Apr;78(2):175-179. doi: 10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.11.009. Epub 2021 Mar 2.
Even after 35 years of the National Leprosy Eradication Program (NLEP) and 15 years post-elimination, leprosy continues to be a public health challenge in India. This paper discusses the current awareness of leprosy among people living in urban slums of western Maharashtra.
The study was conducted in an urban slum of western Maharashtra with 400 participants. A closed-ended questionnaire regarding the knowledge, attitude, practices, and stigma existing among the people was administered, followed by a small awareness talk and screening for leprosy.
Of the total 400 participants, 205 (51.25) were females and 195 (48.75) were males. Only 154/400 (38.5%) people were aware of leprosy. 130/400 (32.5%) people thought that it is treatable; however, 71/130 (54.6) of them thought that it would recur even after completing the treatment. Only 103/400 (25.75) said that they would marry a person with leprosy, denoting prevalent stigma in the society, and 79/400 (19.75) were aware of government services for leprosy and NLEP. Screening of all the participants surveyed did not reveal any new or doubtful cases of leprosy.
The present study shows a lack of awareness and knowledge of leprosy among the target population. With only 20% of them being aware of government services and the NLEP, combined with an extremely low knowledge about the disease; it shows the need to further augment the government programs. There is also an increasing need to educate people to accomplish a positive attitude of the community towards leprosy patients.
即使在国家麻风病消除计划（NLEP）实施35年后以及消除麻风病15年后，麻风病在印度仍然是一项公共卫生挑战。本文探讨了马哈拉施特拉邦西部城市贫民窟居民对麻风病的当前认知情况。
该研究在马哈拉施特拉邦西部的一个城市贫民窟进行，有400名参与者。发放了一份关于人们的知识、态度、行为和耻辱感的封闭式问卷，随后进行了一次小型宣传讲座并开展麻风病筛查。
在400名参与者中，205名（51.25%）为女性，195名（48.75%）为男性。只有154/400（38.5%）的人知晓麻风病。130/400（32.5%）的人认为麻风病是可治疗的；然而，其中71/130（54.6%）的人认为即使完成治疗后仍会复发。只有103/400（25.75%）的人表示他们会与麻风病患者结婚，这表明社会中存在普遍的耻辱感，79/400（19.75%）的人知晓政府针对麻风病的服务和国家麻风病消除计划。对所有参与调查的人员进行筛查未发现任何新的或疑似麻风病病例。
本研究表明目标人群对麻风病缺乏认知和了解。他们中只有20%知晓政府服务和国家麻风病消除计划，同时对该疾病的了解极低；这表明需要进一步加强政府项目。越来越有必要教育人们，以使社区对麻风病患者形成积极的态度。
