"There is a need to remove misconceptions about leprosy Social stigma associated with leprosy had imputed moral and social overtones to a medical condition leading to ostracism.
"However, the introduction of multi-drug therapy in early 1980s has changed the scenario for the disease, curing over 13 million leprosy cases and bringing down the prevalence rate in the nation from around 150 per 10,000 population in 1983 to less than one per 10,000 population today," he said here.
He was speaking after presenting International Gandhi Award-2011 to a woman doctor from Belgium Caire Velut and Jagdish Devrao Samant, the founder of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Leprosy Eradication Trust, for rendering yeomen services to alleviate the sufferings of leprosy patients.