Abstract

Hansen’s disease, known as leprosy in colloquial language has been able to maintain its prevalence in the Indian subcontinent due to the haggard socio-economic status, lack of awareness and multiple other predisposing factors. Leprosy has been found to suppress the immune system thereby accentuating the chance of secondary infections. Contrary to the long held prevalent notion that the disease is not very contagious but shows long term effects that may lead to permanent limb and nerve disfigurement. The chronic effects of the ailment also include loss of visual acuity along with deformed limbs. Despite the prevalence and emergence of substantial number of new cases of leprosy each year in most of the developed and developing nations, the disease has still not been identified as a major health problem. The major hurdle in tackling the disease is also stemmed from the under reporting of the ailment caused by the excommunication of the afflicted individuals. India accounts for a large chunk of the global burden of leprosy, contributing almost 3/5th of the newly documented cases per annum. Reemergence of leprosy has been evidenced due to development of resistance in the causative bacterial strain. Yet much has not been accomplished in developing therapeutic regimen to curb the rampage of this insidious enemy. The aim of this short communication aims at portraying the true scenario of leprosy and there by attract the attention of policy makers and implementers to take radical actions to eradicate the menace to public health.