Family motivation card: An innovative tool for increasing case detection in a resource poor setting

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease, causing various physical disabilities and deformities. Even today, stigma leads to late detection of new cases. Household contacts are considered a primary focus for the spread of infection.

To find new cases among household contacts of leprosy patients by providing a family motivation card (FMC) to each leprosy patient, thereby enabling early diagnosis and treatment leading to a decrease in disease and disability burden in the community.

100 patients diagnosed with leprosy (both new and old cases) were enrolled in the study. All patients were provided with a family motivation card. The purpose of giving the card was discussed in detail with each patient. New family contacts brought by old patients were examined thoroughly for the presence of leprosy. Digital color photographs were taken of all family contacts. Data analysis was done.

23 new cases of leprosy (15 (65%) MB and eight (35%) PB cases) were detected among family members of primary cases. Most cases belonged to the under 15 years (43.47%) and over 60 years (34.78%) age groups.

Adoption of a simple, cheap yet effective strategy such as the FMC could act as a bridge between intensive case-finding approaches, such as the Modified Leprosy Elimination Campaign (MLEC) and voluntary reporting.