With an estimated number of about 2.2 million cases in India, leprosy is one of our (Indian) important public health problems. With great regret, we have to accept the fact that the present knowledge of leprosy by our people is very, very meager.
In fact, the facilities for leprosy treatment and research provided by the Government of India are very limited. Moreover, few Indian architects have contributed their services towards the problem of designing an adequate leprosy campus.
I have prepared this thesis in the hope that it will contribute some pragmatic design concepts of rehabilitation programs for lepers, concerning the role and impact of an architect in modifying the leper's problems and in developing relevant local as well as national policies and programs. In this research, I have tried to touch on each and every element of the rehabilitation program. It is founded on two primary objectives - first, my desire to offer some realistic conception of design to the architectural profession, and second, my interest in proposing to an architect, his clients, and his constituents, several relevant alternatives to current approaches. I also hope it will be of use to social workers engaged in anti-leprosy work.
