"To me, they are the most downtrodden people in the world," Dr Mani Balu, a physician, told The Post-Gazette, a Pittsburgh newspaper.
"I came home and was pretty much haunted by what I had seen," she was quoted said Ms Becky Douglas, co-founder of the non-profit organisation Rising Star Outreach, adding, "For four months in 2005 he put his practice on hold and went over there and worked for us." The doctor was drawn to the non-profit body in April 2004, when he heard Ms Douglas' speech at a fund-raiser held by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Tamil Nadu Foundation.
Dr Balu offered to volunteer and raised funds for the body and used his connections in Tamil Nadu to improve the leprosy-eradication programme.
Dr Balu, who arrived in the United States in 1968 from Chennai, is planning to visit southern India periodically to help strengthen the programme.
The country is home to 70 per cent of leprosy patients in the world.
"If you do it right, within one generation the disease should be gone," Dr Balu told the Pittsburgh newspaper.
Ms Douglas set up the non-profit body, with the help of some friends, after watching disfigured leprosy-afflicted children on Indian streets during her visit nearly five years ago.
"At first, I could hardly bring myself to even look at these people saying.
The non-profit body gives treatment for leprosy patients, manages a micro credit program and helps them earn money by setting up small businesses, instead of begging.
Boarding schools have also been set up for the patients' children.
Volunteers at the non-profit body include Padma Venkataraman, daughter of former President R Venkataraman.
When left untreated, leprosy can cause loss of limbs and disfigurement, leading to social ostracism.
It is not generally contagious, but long periods of close contact can spread the disease.
The goal of the World Health Organisation is to bring down leprosy, which has widespread social stigma in countries like India, to less than 1 case per 10,000 people.
Even that goal is achieved; India because of its 1.2 billion population will still have more than 100,000 cases.
About two weeks ago, a Leprosy Day was observed in India.
Speaking at function to mark the day, Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said in New Delhi that the target of eradicating leprosy completely would take 20-25 years since leprosy has a long incubation period.
