Goa continues to detect average of 70 new leprosy cases per year

Panaji: Although leprosy cases are on the decline compared to a decade and more ago, statistics over the past five years indicate that Goa continues to detect an average of 70 new cases of the chronic infectious disease annually.

In 2024-25, 68 new leprosy cases were reported in Goa. Of these, 49 (72%) were among the migrant population and 19 (28%) were among locals.

More recently, between April and Dec 2025, 46 new leprosy cases were reported, 60% of which were detected among migrants.

“The cases have more or less plateaued, but the number of cases we get is not the problem. These are immediately put on treatment and then cured. It is the hidden cases not reported due to stigma that are worrisome,” said Dr Cheryl de Souza, chief medical officer of the National Leprosy Eradication Programme at DHS.

Goa currently has 92 people with leprosy under treatment. A child detected with the disease last year completed treatment and recovered, De Souza said.

The state achieved elimination in 2006 and has been gearing towards eradicating the age-old disease by 2027, for which it will have to ensure zero transmission, zero disability and zero discrimination.

“Only once those with leprosy are treated will there be no transmission. The moment a person with leprosy is put on treatment, the person becomes non-infective and then gets cured,” she said.

When a new case is detected, contact tracing is carried out. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is administered to the eligible contacts of the person to interrupt the chain of transmission.

The multi-drug therapy treatment administered to all those with the disease for between six months and one year is not only available at health centres but at sub-centres too. “It is free and the person’s identity is kept secret,” she said.

Challenges in eradicating the disease are not only the floating population that Goa sees but also the long incubation period, which can go up to 20 years or more, she said.

“We do not want anyone to be ostracised and stigmatised. Leprosy can affect anyone and it is not only those from the lower socio-economic sector who get the disease,” she said.