New 3-Drug Regimen for Leprosy
January 28 , 2024
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- The Central government has approved a new treatment regimen for leprosy, aiming to stop its transmission at the sub-national level by 2027.
- The National Leprosy Eradication Programme is taking all the required steps to stop the transmission of leprosy.
- Govt has decided to introduce a three-drug regimen for Pauci-Bacillary (PB) cases in place of a two-drug regimen for six months.
- WHO had agreed to supply the revised drug regimen from April 1, 2025.
- Thus, all States and Union Territories have now been asked to send their requisitions for anti-leprosy drugs 12 months beforehand.
- The revised classification of leprosy and the treatment regimen for PB and multi-bacillary (MB) cases in India will be implemented from the same date.
- The WHO’s recommended treatment regimen consists of three drugs — dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine.
- The combination is referred to as MDT.
- Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria.
- Free MDT was initially funded by the Nippon Foundation and since 2000.
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