Agra: India may have eliminated leprosy "as a public health problem according to WHO criteria of less than one case per 10,000 people" in 2005, but data recently provided in Parliament shows the number of leprosy cases in the nation has been climbing.

On March 24, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, revealed that the number of leprosy cases increased by 15.7% in 2021–22 in comparison to the previous financial year. The minister stated that on January 30, 2023, the government unveiled the National Strategic Plan (NSP) and Roadmap for Leprosy (2023-27) to eradicate leprosy by 2027, three years ahead of schedule for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal.

He explained that these strategies and implementation plans placed importance on education to reduce stigma and discrimination, as well as the debut of a website called Nikusth 2.0 for case reporting. He added that, in the long run, several interventions were launched under the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP), which has resulted in a decrease in the number of new leprosy cases, i.e., 75,394 cases in 2021–2022 from 1,25,785 cases in 2014–15. 

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/leprosy-cases-up-by-15-per-cent-in-2-years-says-reply-in-parliament/99024543 )