The Odisha government has targeted to make the state leprosy free by March 2020.

State Health Secretary P K Meherda has directed Health department officials to bring down the leprosy related grade-2 disability to less than one per every ten lakh people by October 2, 2019. Addressing a workshop on identification process for eradication of leprosy, Mr Meherda asked the officials to work united to achieve the goal. Official sources said the Leprosy eradication programmes and MDT treatment has been started in every district since 1983.

The number of leprosy affected people in the state was reduced from 121.4 per every ten thousand in 1982-83 to 0.65 in 2006-07 due to the implementation of leprosy eradication programme. But later it was increased to 0.99 in 2012 and 1.24 per every ten thousand by July 2018. While 8004 leprosy patients were detected in 2014-15,their number increased to 10,175 in 2015-16. As many as 10045 leprosy patients were detected in 2016-17 and 9577 in 2017-18.
Official sources said the state has now 6325 leprosy patients. In the coming days the programme for identification of leprosy patients would be intensified in high leprosy prone and inaccessible areas.