Karwar: Deputy Commissioner K Harishkumar has called upon the officials of various departments to co-ordinate with each other in identifying the leprosy cases, as part of the Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC). 

He noted this while speaking during the meeting of various committees of Health & Family Welfare Department, held at Deputy Commissioner’s office in the City.

He said, a 14-day campaign to detect leprosy cases in the district will be organised in November. The LCDC is a unique initiative under the National Leprosy Control Programme (NLEP). The objective of the campaign is the early detection of leprosy in affected persons so that they can be saved from physical disability and deformity by providing them timely treatment and thus also halting the transmission of disease at the community level, the DC added.

As part of the campaign, each and every member of the targeted population will be examined by the search team. Door to door visits will be done by the team as per the micro plan prepared for the local area to detect hidden and undetected leprosy cases, he said and asked the officials not to send their low-ranking staff to the meetings, as the complete information collection will be affected. 

‘Control tobacco chewing’

The deputy commissioner said, it is no secret that smoking or chewing tobacco is dangerous for health. With constant efforts, smoking has been prevented in public places across the district. The District Tobacco Control Cell should take measures to control selling and chewing tobacco and its byproducts by creating awareness among the public, he said.

District Health & Family Welfare Officer G N Ashok Kumar, Surgeon Shivanand Kudtarkar, District Ayush Officer Lalita, Taluk Health Officer Suraj Nayak, and others were present.