Because vocal, visible metropolitan India is relatively well-served, there is a general sense that the country is over the hump – communicable diseases are a thing of the past. This has brought about a transformation in the way they are treated. For instance, cases of malaria are no longer a public health concern, but a matter for the neighbourhood doctor and pathology laboratories. Leprosy impinges on people’s consciousness only as what happens to the less fortunate. And TB is too personal to even talk about, but is entirely curable.
