02184nas a2200373   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653000900065653001000074653001100084653001100095653001200106653000900118653001600127653001300143653003100156653001900187653003100206653001400237100001100251700001200262700001100274700001100285700001000296700001000306245015100316856005900467300001000526490000700536050003200543520122100575022001401796       2001                            d  c2001 Sep10aAdult10aAged10aChina10aFemale10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged10aNeuritis10aPatient Education as Topic10aPilot Projects10aPreventive Health Services10aSelf care1 aChen S1 aZhang L1 aWang Z1 aZhou J1 aLiu Y1 aMao C00aExperiences from a collaborative project on the prevention of disability in leprosy patients in Shandong Province, the People's Republic of China.  uhttp://leprev.ilsl.br/pdfs/2001/v72n3/pdf/v72n3a12.pdf  a330-60 v72  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p>Shandong Province (present population 89 million) in the People's Republic of China established a leprosy control programme in 1955. Between that year and the end of 1999, allowing for death and migration, the cumulative number of cases registered was 53,618, including 120 cases on multiple drug therapy (MDT) and 18,248 who had completed satisfactory courses of dapsone monotherapy and/or MDT. Of this latter group, 9500 cases (52%) suffered from visible disabilities (grade 2 of the WHO classification). Prevalence and incidence rates of leprosy have decreased dramatically since 1955 and, on average, only 50-70 new cases are now being detected annually in the entire province. Leprosy is thus no longer a public health problem, but the existence of such a large number of patients with grade 2 disabilities is clearly a matter of serious concern. This paper describes a pilot project to investigate the potential of health personnel in the leprosy programme and the dermatology and sexually transmitted diseases services to (a) prevent deterioration of existing disabilities in ex-patients through self-care and (b) prevent new neuritis in patients on MDT through early detection and the use of steroids.</p>  a0305-7518