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India Reports 3,832 Child Leprosy Cases in 2025-26
India reports 3,832 new leprosy cases among children in 2025-26, including 37 cases with Grade-2 Disability (G2D) at diagnosis, as per the latest National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) annual report. The child caseload is 91.6% higher than the NLEP target of 2,000 cases for the year, even as the National Strategic Plan for Leprosy 2023-27 provides for interrupting transmission at the district level by 2027.
National Leprosy Eradication Programme and Leprosy Indicators:
| Dimension | Key Details |
|---|---|
| District criterion for “interrupted transmission” | Under the national roadmap, “interrupted transmission” comprises reporting zero new indigenous child cases for 5 consecutive years in a district. |
| NLEP programme objectives | NLEP programme objectives comprise: zero disability among new child cases; and a national G2D rate of less than 1 case per million population. |
| Roadmap projections for 2026-27 | The roadmap projections for 2026-27 comprise 1,000 child cases and a G2D rate of 0.5 per million. |
| WHO critical indicators | WHO critical indicators for leprosy control progress comprise new cases among children below 15 years, and G2D among newly detected patients. |
| Overall new leprosy cases (2025-26) | New leprosy cases overall in India in 2025-26 comprise 91,783 cases. |
| Prevalence and disability metrics (2025-26) | Prevalence rate comprises 0.56 per 10,000 population; G2D at diagnosis comprises 1,945 patients, which comprises 2.12% of all newly detected cases; and national G2D rate comprises 1.34 per million. |
| WHO global update | Newly detected leprosy cases in 2025 in WHO’s latest global update comprise: India 91,783; Brazil 22,901; and Indonesia 16,292; and these three countries comprise 78.3% of all new cases reported globally. |
| High-priority states and districts | High-priority states and districts with prevalence rate above 1 case per 10,000 population comprise: Chhattisgarh 23 districts, Jharkhand 21 districts, Maharashtra 18 districts, Odisha 18 districts, and Madhya Pradesh 10 districts. |
| NLEP response strategy | NLEP current approach comprises active case detection, household contact surveys, focused campaigns in high-burden areas, and special plans for hard-to-reach areas. |
| Leprosy disease profile | Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, comprises a chronic bacterial infection caused mainly by Mycobacterium leprae, primarily affecting the skin and peripheral nerves; transmission comprises prolonged, close contact with an untreated person; and multidrug therapy (MDT) comprises the curative treatment. |