Mumbai: The state government has launched the ‘Sparsh’ campaign to raise awareness on leprosy. Through this campaign, children studying in Zilla Parishad and government-run schools will take a pledge not to mistreat or discriminate against people suffering from leprosy as well to identify the early symptoms of it.

Currently there is very little awareness regarding leprosy. People suffering from this disease are still ostracised from mainstream society. Many a times it is seen that people who are affected with leprosy are shunned from society or are discriminated against in there day-to-day lives. For this, it is important to remove the misconceptions in the minds of people and help change their viewpoint about this non-communicable disease.

The ‘Sparsh’ leprosy awareness campaign is being observed in January, in order to address this subject. This campaign aims to sensitise children and spread awareness about the same.