Screening of registered leprosy cases and its effects on prevalence rate.

Prevalence rates of leprosy in 6 endemic districts in Andhra Pradesh, India with a population of 168.71 lakhs (1981 census) were studied before and after screening of registered cases. The screening was carried out as part of multidrug treatment project implementation. After such screening a sharp fall in the registered prevalence rate, by 26.2% on the average, was observed in all the districts. About 34.8% of the total cases were declared as Released from control. The implication of these findings regarding registered cases fit for such release and the overall registered prevalence rates in the country must be kept in mind.