Clarification: doctors did not accuse Indian authorities of massaging leprosy data

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1390

BMJ 2005;330:1390 (11 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1390

Letter

Clarification: doctors did not accuse Indian authorities of massaging leprosy data

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Members of the panel which held discussions atthe Press Club of India on 6 May 2005 did not accuse the authoritiesof the Indian state of massaging leprosy figures, as reportedby Mudur.¹

The title of the article does not reflect the proceedings ofthe press conference, where J P Muliyil and I participated,along with others. The thrust of the presentation was to bringto the attention of the community at large in India throughthe media that leprosy as a disease and its consequences—suchas deformities—have been controlled to a notable extent,but the new cases seen along with complications such as visibledeformity, as well as highly deficient socioeconomic rehabilitation,should continue to cause concern to the public and the authoritiesconcerned.

I was quoted as saying that leprosy will remain a public healthproblem even after the prevalence drops to one per 10 . . . [Full text of this article]

Cornelius Walter, director for South Asia

Leprosy Mission, New Delhi 110001, India WalterC@tlm-india.org