Speaking at a function on the occasion of Anti-Leprosy Day here today, Director of Health Services C Lalthanmawia disclosed that since 1982, leprosy had affected 1,395 people in Mizoram, of which 1,380 had been cured.
''There are only 17 lepers left in the state. All of them are migrants from Bangladesh confined in the southern-western part of the state. Currently there are no lepers among the Mizos,'' he said.
The health department, in a communique, said the anti-leprosy campaign was kicked off in Mizoram since 1981 and it was currently aiming at a total eradication of the ailment.
In 2001, leprosy-affected people formed less than one per cent of the total population, allowing Mizoram to get incentive cash awards from the Union government. With this, the upgradation of the state's lone leprosy hospital at Tlabung would be funded.
At present, 17 leprosy patients, all of them are migrants, are being administered treatment at the hospital. Health officials said leprosy was rampant along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam.
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