Summary An encouraging increase in the knowledge ofleprosy has been found in traditional healers after training has been given. Evaluation was by pre-and post-training questionnaires to which scores were assigned. Their role in leprosy care at the community level is also being discussed.The traditional healer is part and parcel of the social milieu where he commands respect and has an intimate relationship with his clientele. Considering the present manpower in the National Leprosy Control Programme we can think of this alternative approach as a boost. In addition, the negative aspects of health care as practised by many practitioners can also be corrected by the appropriate training.Leprosy has been given top priority in our National Programme, and by AD 2000 the Government of India hopes to eradicate leprosy.Our grassroot level worker is a non-medical assistant who perhaps is not acceptable to the community because people have great fa ith in a large number of other health providers, most of whom are traditional healers. A traditional healer is any practitioner not institutionally qualified but practising any system of medicine, fo lk medicine and or magico-religious practices in the same socio cultural setting as the clientele. We have been working with the traditional healers fo r quite some time in this area.The present study was conducted to find out if the traditional healers are interested in acquiring modern knowledge of leprosy and other skin diseases and to see if additional training could improve the standard of their health provision.0305-75 I 8/84/055057 + 05 $0 1 .00

Background: Medicine is a profession with high-stress prevalence. There are many stress markers but cortisol is one of the commonly used stress marker. Stress begins in the first year of medical carrier and increases with subsequent years of medical education. There is a decrease in overall academic performance and many health-related adverse effects due to stress. In this study, yoga was performed in the first year MBBS students of BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur and the impact of yoga in stress reduction was studied using serum cortisol as stress a marker.Methods: Study groups, yoga and control contained 26 and 27 subjects including male and female MBBS students. Yoga group practiced selected yogic asana, pranayama, and yoga nidra for 3 months. The control group as a stress marker had been kept in touch and allowed to go on their usual activity as before. Morning (8.00 AM to 9.00 AM) serum cortisol level was used as a stress marker in both group, pre and post-study.Results: There was a significant reduction in morning serum cortisol level (stress level) in yoga group (p-value = 0.0271) but there was no significant change in morning serum cortisol level of the control group (p-value = 0.8573).Conclusions: Yoga is an effective stress reduction technique for medical students. Yoga classes should be introduced in the first year of the medical carrier under the supervision of expert physiologists. This may lead to the implantation of a healthy lifestyle in our future healthcare providers. Yogic practice by health care providers may have long term positive impacts on our healthcare system.

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