Awareness about cause and curability of leprosy among leprosy patients in Eastern UP

Abstract

To study the awareness about cause and curability of leprosy among leprosy patients. Material & Method: 251 study subjects were selected randomly attending the Skin & VD OPD of S. S. Hospital of IMS, BHU, Varanasi. Questions related to cause and curability were administered to leprosy patients aged 15 years or above by the interviewer himself. Result: Only 6.4% of patients identified the correct cause of leprosy. More than half of the patients (54.6%) identified that leprosy was a curable disease. Nearly one fourth of the patients had heard about MDT. Conclusion: IEC activity should be strengthened with emphasizing message that leprosy is curable and MDT is the only effective treatment. © 2016, Indian Journal of Public Health Research and Development. All rights reserved.