The Union Health Ministry's Central Leprosy Division organized a two-day National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) Review-cum-Capacity Building Workshop in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, commencing on August 19, 2026. The workshop brought together more than 70 participants including the Additional Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Deputy Director General (Leprosy), officials from Central Leprosy Division, representatives from RLTRI Raipur and Aska Institute, State Leprosy Officers, Chief Medical and Health Officers, District Leprosy Officers from all 51 districts of Madhya Pradesh, District Consultants, technical development partners, and a representative of APAL.
The deliberations focused on reviewing the epidemiological situation, assessing programme performance, identifying implementation gaps, and sharing field-level experiences and best practices. Emphasis was placed on strengthening early case detection, contact tracing, timely initiation and completion of treatment, prevention of disabilities, and intensified surveillance as key components of the last-mile strategy for interrupting leprosy transmission.
Dr. Sunil V. Gitte, Deputy Director General (Leprosy), highlighted the importance of leveraging programme data to identify priority districts and areas requiring intensified surveillance and targeted interventions, with particular emphasis on implementing focused strategies to bring the prevalence rate below 1 per 10,000 population. Dr. Rashmi Shukla, National Programme Officer from WHO, led a technical session on improving the quality and outcomes of Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC), while Dr. Sandeep Jogdand from RLTRI Raipur conducted a session on retrospective and reverse contact tracing approaches.
The workshop included experience-sharing sessions with District Leprosy Officers from districts including Alirajpur, Anuppur, Barwani, Burhanpur, and Dhar, who shared their field experiences, operational challenges, and district-level actions being undertaken. The Vice-President of APAL shared practical insights on strengthening early case detection and community-level action, emphasizing the importance of incorporating perspectives of persons affected by leprosy. The workshop will continue on August 20, 2026, with further deliberations aimed at consolidating district-level strategies and accelerating focused interventions toward the national goal of Interruption of Leprosy Transmission.
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