Civil Surgeon Dr S P Sharma said that there has been a slight rise in the number of leprosy cases among Punjabis. “But overall the cases are not increasing and the disease is under control,” he said.

“The number of fresh cases in the state has been under control. However, as seen over the years, the disease, which was once confined only to migrants, has also affected some members of the Punjabi population too,” he said. The reason, he says, is the infectious nature of leprosy which spreads through skin contact or breath and has a long incubation period. The disease has creeped in over the years, he added.

Notably, Punjab is considered to be a safe state as regards the prevalence of leprosy and it features among the states with low rate of incidence.

The health officials even say the disease is now at its elimination level in the state (which is one patient against the population of 10,000).

“Leprosy is now at the elimination level since the number of cases is well under one patient in a population of 10,000,” said Dr GK Bansal, district leprosy officer.

He added there are only 212 cases in the district which are on the line of treatment at present while the district has an overall population of 34 lakh. “Of these, 187 are migrants from different states like Bihar where the disease is still very prevalent. The patients who belong to the indigenous population are 25.”

He adds the focus is now to rehabilitate the cases of deformity and there are only three cases of deformity among the cases being treated presently.

Meanwhile, the stigma of the disease still haunts the society as patients are still treated with a lot of contempt. “The disease is one of the slowest communicable diseases. It cannot affect a person who has good level of immunity against diseases. That is why it is called the disease of the poor and affects people with low level of nutrition and living in congested and crowded places,” said Dr Bansal.