Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has written to Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot, seeking amendment to existing discriminatory laws against persons affected by leprosy.
“It will be a befitting tribute to the Father of the Nation on his 150th Birth Anniversary if we can expedite the process and introduction of the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy (EDPAL) Bill, which was drafted by the Law Commission of India and annexed in its 256th Report,” Dr. Vardhan wrote in his letter to the two Ministers.
He added that even though the disease is now fully curable, it is disturbing to learn that there still exists 108 discriminatory laws against persons affected by leprosy, including three Union and 105 State laws. He has also written to the Chief Ministers of 23 States/UTs to amend such laws in their States.
The National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) has achieved enormous success in leprosy control, particularly in the last four decades, noted a release issued by the Ministry.
“In addition to the routine activities, more than a dozen innovations were introduced from 2016 onwards in a phased manner to address the issues being faced by the programme. Majorly, Leprosy Case Detection Campaign [specific for high endemic districts], Focussed Leprosy Campaign [for hot spots i.e., rural and urban areas], special plan for case detection in hard to reach areas, ASHA based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects have contributed to early case detection,’’ the Minister said.
A leprosy-affected person, after treatment, is fully cured and hence there exists no justification for the continued stigmatization of the persons, Dr. Vardhan added.
