The Leprosy Mission Trust India

The sustainable Livelihood programme provides institution-based job-oriented technical skills and employment opportunities to young boys and girls affected by leprosy/disability. The programme also provides community-based vocational training to people from marginalised rural communities. The programme is implemented through six vocational training centres (VTCs) spread across six states of India.

The Leprosy Mission Trust India's (TLMTI) research is a cross-cutting issue carried out in its molecular biology research laboratory and in its hospitals, vocational training centres and community empowerment projects. Its current priority areas of research are: transmission, early diagnosis, biomarkers for early detection, reactions and nerve function impairment, disability management, emerging patterns of drug resistance, stigma measurement and interventions to reduce it, inclusion and integration, and advocacy research.

The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMTI) is committed to providing leprosy care to people affected by leprosy and healthcare to the general public in various medical specialities. Through its community outreach initiatives, TLMTI engages with and educates rural communities on health matters and provides them with health check-ups and medical care. Its Health programme is implemented through a network of 15 hospitals spread across 09 states of India.

The Leprosy Mission Trust India addresses the development needs of people affected by leprosy through a rights-based approach. It builds the capacity of people affected by leprosy/disability in forming and managing people’s organisations for collective action. It engages with government agencies for creating an enabling policy and legislative environment for people affected by leprosy to live as equal citizens of the country.

The Leprosy Mission Trust India’s (TLMTI) Community Empowerment programme works with individuals and communities marginalised due to leprosy, disability, gender, and poverty. The programme focuses on empowering such individuals and communities so that they can access their rights and entitlements and live with dignity.

TLMTI supports people affected by leprosy/disability and their families to form self-help groups (SHGs) or sustain the existing ones. Where mainstream groups exist, it promotes their inclusion in such groups. Where required, it facilitates the formation of inclusive groups of people affected by leprosy/disability and other marginalised members of society. TLMTI works in partnership with disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) where they exist and do not exist, facilitating their formation. It also sensitises duty bearers to the rights of people affected by leprosy/disability.

The Leprosy Mission Trust India has a diverse set of programmes – Healthcare, Sustainable Livelihood, Community Empowerment, Advocacy, and Research and Training. These programmes are implemented through 15 hospitals, six vocational training centres, four residential care homes for elderly persons affected by leprosy, nine community empowerment projects, and a research laboratory, spread across 9 states of India – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.