Delhi govt set to declare leprosy a notifiable disease

The Delhi government is set to declare leprosy a notifiable disease under the Delhi Epidemic Diseases Act, a move aimed at strengthening surveillance, ensuring early detection and improving treatment compliance across the national capital, officials said on Friday.

The Delhi Health Department has cleared the proposal, and it is awaiting approval.

Once notified, hospitals, clinics and individual practitioners will be required to report cases to the District Leprosy Officer, enabling targeted interventions, timely diagnosis and free treatment through Multi-Drug Therapy at government facilities, an official statement said.

The move will place Delhi among the states, such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, that have made leprosy a notifiable disease.

Health Minister Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh said the step would help identify hidden cases, curb transmission and ensure that all patients receive standard treatment with dignity.

“Leprosy is completely curable. Making it a notifiable disease will help us find hidden cases, stop transmission and ensure every patient gets standard treatment with dignity,” he said.

The notification is expected to be issued following approval under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, with detailed reporting guidelines to be shared soon with healthcare institutions across Delhi.

India officially achieved the elimination of leprosy as a public health problem in December 2005, meeting the WHO criteria of less than one case per 10,000 population at the national level. However, the country still accounts for nearly 59 per cent of global annual new cases, the official statement said.

Officials said a recent pan-India study found that around 44.1 per cent of leprosy patients are treated in private healthcare facilities and go unreported under the National Leprosy Eradication Programme, leading to continued transmission in the community.

They added that mandatory notification would help in early detection, reduce disability risk, enable contact tracing and post-exposure prophylaxis, improve treatment adherence and address stigma by recognising leprosy as a treatable disease.

The World Health Organisation has also recommended inclusion of leprosy in the list of notifiable diseases to strengthen monitoring and control efforts.