Hope on the horizon

30th January is the martyrdom day of our Father of the Nation - Mahatma Gandhiji.

Mahatma Gandhi's cherished dream of a leprosy-eliminated India has come true. Thanks to the support of the various NGOs, national and international bodies along with the Government machinery, the number of leprosy cases has come down from 40 lakhs in 1982 to less than 1 lakh today.

IDF wishes to publish on this blog an article which appeared in The Hindu on 03-12-2001 written by Mrs. Geetha Padmanabhan.

Hope on the horizon

As president of the Indian Leprosy Foundation (ILEF), Dr. A.R.K.Pillai has been working towards cure and eradication of the disease for three decades. A profile.

SOMETIME IN 1945, Prof. T. N. Jagadisan invited Mahatma Gandhi to inaugurate the Kasturba Kushta Nilayam building. Gandhiji wrote back, "Get someone to open it; opening a hospital is not a big matter. But I shall come to close it.''

The Mahatma will be sorely missed at leprosy centres in Tamil Nadu after four years if the promise of Dr. A.R.K. Pillai, president, Indian Leprosy Foundation (ILEF) is fulfilled. From 7.33 lakh patients in 1982, detected leprosy cases have drastically decreased to just about 24,000 cases this year. And the doctor believes that leprosy will be `eliminated' in the State by 2005.
Equally gratifying for him is the change in the social attitude towards the patients proved by the fact that from zero voluntary reporting, the scenario has shifted to 70 per cent seeking a doctor's help for a patchy skin.

For complete view of the article published on The Hindu - Please click the link : http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2001/12/03/stories/2001120300080200.htm

Let us pay our respects and tribute to the Father of the Nation.

IDF PR Division