Implementation of National Leprosy Eradication Programme during COVID-19 era: A qualitative research

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dc.contributor.authorBhattacharya, Tridibesen_US
dc.contributor.authorDas, Somenathen_US
dc.contributor.authorSarkar, Aditya Prasaden_US
dc.contributor.authorPatra, Aparesh Chandraen_US
dc.contributor.authorSarkar, Debajiten_US
dc.contributor.authorDas, Nilay Kantien_US
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-10T07:30:54Z
dc.date.available2023-08-10T07:30:54Z
dc.date.issued2023-06
dc.description.abstractIntroduction: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed new challenge to the implementation of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme. According to national data, after lockdown due to COVID-19, there was a 29% reduction in total leprosy cases reported in the first quarter (April-June) of 2020 in comparison to 2019. Objectives: To explore the difficulties faced by different stakeholders of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme like policy makers, doctors, grass root level health workers as well as leprosy patients during COVID-19 pandemic with respect to programme implementation and access to leprosy care. Materials and Methods: Qualitative research was undertaken including two focus-group-discussions held among six leprosy patients diagnosed after lockdown and nine ASHA workers as well as six in-depth interviews of doctors, leprologists, and programme managers. Ethics committee approval was sought and informed consent was obtained from all participants. All focus-group-discussions were electronically recorded and the in-depth interviews telephonically recorded, transcribed and translated from Bengali-to-English. Transcripts were separately coded by researchers and thematically analysed with the help of Visual-Anthropac software version 1.0. Results: Solitary focus on COVID-19 control, capacity building and information, education and communication, leprosy case search & surveillance, co-infection among health workers, transportation issues were the themes explored from focus-group-discussions of health workers and ASHA workers. Similarly, the present study identified six themes from in-depth interviews of programme manager, leprologists, programme manager as diagnostic difficulty, operational issues, rehabilitation issues, capacity building & information education and communication activities and way forward. Limitations: The research reveals the perceptions of rural population of Eastern India with high leprosy prevalence, which might not be applicable for urban areas or low prevalent districts Conclusion: The solitary focus of the administration towards COVID and shifting the infrastructure and human resource only towards the management of COVID can lead to resurgence of the leprosy. Having an organised framework of operations, catering to the need of the front-line workers in rendering services, utilizing the digital platform and social media, and focusing on rehabilitation would be needed to overcome the crisisen_US
dc.identifier.affiliationsDepartment of Community Medicineen_US
dc.identifier.affiliationsDermatology, Bankura Sammilani Medical College, Bankuraen_US
dc.identifier.affiliationsNational Leprosy Eradication Programme Consultant, German Leprosy and TB Relief Association, Kolkata, West Bengal, Indiaen_US
dc.identifier.citationBhattacharya, Tridibesen_US
dc.identifier.citationDas, Somenathen_US
dc.identifier.citationSarkar, Aditya Prasaden_US
dc.identifier.citationPatra, Aparesh Chandraen_US
dc.identifier.citationSarkar, Debajiten_US
dc.identifier.citationDas, Nilay Kanti. Implementation of National Leprosy Eradication Programme during COVID-19 era: A qualitative research. Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology. 2023 Jun; 89(3): 393-402en_US
dc.identifier.issn0973-3922
dc.identifier.issn0378-6323
dc.identifier.placeIndiaen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/223136
dc.languageenen_US
dc.publisherScientific Scholaren_US
dc.relation.issuenumber3en_US
dc.relation.volume89en_US
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.25259/IJDVL_469_2021en_US
dc.subjectNational leprosy eradication programmeen_US
dc.subjectCOVID-19en_US
dc.subjectleprosyen_US
dc.subjectfocus group discussionen_US
dc.subjectin-depth interviewen_US
dc.subjectqualitative researchen_US
dc.titleImplementation of National Leprosy Eradication Programme during COVID-19 era: A qualitative researchen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
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