Medical and social concerns of leprosy cured after integration in India

In order to understand nature of the medical and society related problems of leprosy cured individuals from various socio-cultural groups and develop proper system to address the current needs of leprosy cured, data have been collected from leprosy cured, employing qualitative methods such as FGDs, open ended interviews and participant observation and a quantitative survey method. The findings show that there has been not much change in the socio-cultural and economic situation of the leprosy cured especially the disabled ones, except a recognition in the health system that their anti-leprosy treatment is completed. In the present integrated health care system, disabled leprosy patients are also expected to seek their own health care by themselves along with general public, which is not happening because the leprosy cured are not yet perceived to be cured of leprosy by community as well as by themselves. Though some of the problems of leprosy cured seem to be poverty related, qualitative analysis shows, a vast gap between poverty problem of leprosy afflicted and non leprosy afflicted. Any special programme to bridge the gap between PHC and leprosy community is required and the new functionaries like ASHA in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and similar developments could be of vital use to make them cured in totality.