Disability prevention and management in leprosy: a field experience

Bombay leprosy project has conducted operational research into cost effective ways of using therapeutic management for prevention of disabilities (POD). The goal of achieving this are broadly divided as 1)prevention of impairments and disabilities(POID) and 2)prevention of worsening of disabilities (POWD). About 33-56% of newly registered leprosy patients already have clinically detectable nerve function impairment (NFI), often no longer amenable to MDT. An analysis of 892 leprosy cases treated with WHO-MD stresses the need to focus attention on leprosy patients...