On 23rd January 2024, The State Committee of the Association of People Affected by Leprosy (APAL) in Jharkhand was in attendance at the State Leprosy Prevention Office’s meeting in Ranchi under the National Leprosy Eradication Programme. SLO Virendra Kumar Singh partook in the meeting to achieve a successful Jharkhand State Sparsh Program awareness campaign. Representing the Indian Medical Association, Jharkhand, was a member present at the meeting.
State Program Manager, National Health Mission, Jharkhand, Namkum, Ranchi, State Nodal Officer, State Sahiya Cell. Community Stimulation Cell Officer, Jharkhand. Dr. Abhishek Paul, State Coordinator, WHO, Jharkhand, Ranchi. Dr. Siddharth Bishwal, NLEP Coordinator, NLR. Dr. Gautam, State Coordinator, D.F.I.T. Nodal Officer, IEC Cell. Madhusudan Tiwari, Nicodin Tirkey Apal Organization Jharkhand, Ranchi. Director, Doordarshan, Ranchi, Jharkhand. Director, All India Radio, Ranchi, Jharkhand. Director, Information and Public Relations Department, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
During the meeting, it was unanimously decided that a touch and leprosy detection campaign would be conducted throughout the state from January 30 to February 13, 2024. The campaign will involve Sevakas and ASHA workers conducting door-to-door screenings in all Anganwadi centres, along with banners and posters, while health officers and employees will be running programs in schools and colleges.
The scale of the program this year is noteworthy, especially given the allegations made by the APL team last year regarding the provision of food in the name of the LCD campaign. These allegations led to rumours and the Ghodabandha incident in Jamshedpur, which prompted discussions on the responsible parties and how to maintain character in conducting such a campaign. As a result, plans have been made to run the LCD and Sparsh programs on a larger scale this year.
