Zero Disability
The secondary and tertiary level referral services are needed for the management of complications related to leprosy. Damien Foundation”s policy is to provide secondary level referral services (management of reactions, management of chronic ulcers and diagnosis of leprosy ) through its own projects or through the NGO projects and to provide tertiary level referral centre in each State where its projects are situated (5 centres in Tamilnadu, 1 in Kerala, 1 in Karnataka, 2 in Andhra Pradesh, 1 in Maharashtra, 1 in Delhi, 1 in Jharkhand, 1 in Bihar)
The states like Bihar and Jharkhand are having few referral centres which need support to manage substantial number of persons affected by leprosy with disabilities. There are about 80 cases with disabilities that need surgery in each district in both States and 500 to 600 new cases with GII disabilities are added every year. A minimum of four more referral centres are necessary in Bihar and two more centres in Jharkhand to clear the backlog of patients waiting for reconstructive surgery. Additional referral services should be initiated in collaboration NGOs or Govt health facilities.
Disability Prevention and Medical Rehabilitation
Damien Foundation projects have been involved either directly or indirectly in providing prevention of disability (POD) service to leprosy- affected persons. The population groups covered range from few to 100000s to a whole district (average population is between 3 to 4 million) or a cluster of districts. The services provided range from managing reactions among patients reporting to the centres. Educating, teaching, and counselling on the importance of self-care practices is the core aspect which Damien Foundation follows in the DPMR activity.
for help or by empowering the persons affected with leprosy related disability to lead a respectable life by facilitating to avail government entitlements, provide self- care training and provide livelihood enhancement support. The workforce involved is either one person for the whole district or one for two to three districts. Damien Foundation is currently assisting POD activities in 26 districts in South and forty-four districts in North India.