Leprosy programme misses targets despite national elimination-level prevalence
Quick dive
- India reported 91,783 new leprosy cases in 2025-26, 41.2% above the projected 65,000; new child cases were 91.6% above projection.
- National prevalence was 0.56 cases per 10,000 population at end-March 2026, below the elimination benchmark of fewer than one case per 10,000.
- Chhattisgarh had the highest State/UT prevalence at 1.66 per 10,000, while 114 districts remained above the programme’s elimination target and only 148 achieved provisional interruption of transmission.
- Single-dose rifampicin post-exposure prophylaxis reached 91.2% of 16.94 lakh eligible contacts in 2025-26, up from 71.4% of 6.48 lakh contacts in 2019-20.
- exam_relevance: provides exact programme data and definitions—91,783 cases, 0.56/10,000 prevalence, 114 high-burden districts, G2D and 91.2% SDR-PEP coverage—echoing UPSC’s health-scheme and disease-elimination questions while testing the difference between elimination and eradication.
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