Introduction: Hanson’s disease is of great antiquity and full of prejudices. Misconceptions and stigma associated with it not only cause untold misery to patient, but to his family as well. The adversities suffered by leprosy patients are multi-faceted, ranging from medical, social and psychological to economic and legal. India alone contributes nearly 58.85 per cent of the global leprosy burden. With this in the backdrop, present study was undertaken in a rural area near Pune, with an aim to assess the knowledge regarding leprosy and determine prevailing beliefs and attitude in the community. Aims and Objectives: 1. To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices about leprosy in the community 2. To find out the perceived stigma. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Wanowari area, which is located near Pune Cantonment of Maharashtra. A total of 500 people aged more than18 years were randomly selected. A pre-designed and pre-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate knowledge, attitude and perceived stigma. Data analysis was done with the help of SPSS package. Results: Population under survey had 57.6% literacy rate with majority of them (46.4%) belonging to Socioeconomic class III. Study revealed that 42% of them were aware that the disease is caused by bacteria. However, 10% people felt that it was result of old sins. Prolonged contact is the mode of transmission; was felt by 53.6% while 21.4% thought it is airborne. The attitude of the general population towards the patients was found to be positive and sympathetic. Conclusion: Present study brings out that, though people have knowledge, but need a change in their attitude. Further, socio-economic improvement of persons, affected by leprosy will result in increased self-confidence and prevent marginalization. Health education is essential to dispel misconceptions about the disease.

Keywords: Stigma; Knowledge; Attitude; Segregation.