Dr.Nirmal Joe, Director
Dear Friends,
I am indeed honoured to be appointed as Director of one of the
premier public health institutionsin India, dedicated to the service of
Leprosy affected persons. The institute with a glory of nearly 100 years has
contributed immensely towards leprosy control and elimination. Besides being
the apex institute for treatment and care of patients, the institute
provides technical support to Central Leprosy Division.
The other major responsibilities include training all categories of
health workers, conducting basic and operational research and support the
National Leprosy Elimination Programme in monitoring and supervision,
surveillance of anti-microbial resistance, etc.
As per current trends, India contributes to about 60% of
global leprosy burden, with nearly 1,35,000 new leprosy cases detected
during 2016-17.Besides, about 4 persons per million population in the
country suffer from highly debilitating Grade-2 disability. The overall
burden of the disease and disability varies significantly in different
states with those living with poverty and in poor housing conditions being
the most vulnerable.
While tremendous progress has been achieved in reducing the
disease burden significantly, sustained efforts with renewed vigour are
required to fulfill the vision of Mahatma Gandhi of a leprosy free India.
The key lies in early diagnosis and prompt and complete treatment of leprosy
cases coupled with strengthening of Disability Prevention &Medical
Rehabilitationbesides reduction of stigma.
This institute is committed to strive hard for an early end of
this disease. It is our
endeavour to continually improve the institutional services for care of
leprosy affected persons besides evolving innovative strategies and
conducting landmark research in order to provide vital inputs for designing
more effective interventions for faster elimination of the disease. We also
welcome proposals for collaborative research in this regard. Meanwhile, we
review our commitment for an enhanced level of support with respect to all
components of the National leprosy elimination strategy in order to improve
the quality of services across the country till this disease is defeated in
its entirety.
I highly appreciate the hard work and quality output by all
the officials of the institute with discipline and dedication; and we remain
committed to collective development of the institute to greater heights.
Jai Hind