The centre was established following a highly successful 1996 campaign of the children’s BBC Television programme, Blue Peter.
Following the programme’s coverage of “Leap for Lepra” - a campaign launched by British triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, the charity was invited to submit an application for a Blue Peter Appeal which was sucessfuly approved. Launched on 8 November 1996, the appeal asked viewers to raise funds through Bring and Buy Sales. The target of £500,000 was to purchase the following equipment to reach vulnerable people affected by leprosy and other NTDS:
Anticipating extra post, Lepra were grateful to the Army for making space available at Colchester Garrison Barracks. During the first two weeks of the appeal, 60,000 items of mail were received, 20,000 of which were received in just one day!
On Friday 3 January 1997, the Blue Peter team announced that the target of £500,000 had been reached with a new target of £1.5 million set!
By the beginning of April 1997, the target of £1.5m had been smashed with the final total reaching just over £2.8m (that is the equivalent of raising over £4.5 million today!). This amazing achievement by Blue Peter viewers not only saw the establishment of mobile treatment units, it saw the creation of the Blue Peter Public Health and Research Centre (BPHRC) in Hyderabad. The centre was officially opened by Blue Peter presenter, Stuart Miles on 14 December 1999.
The centre, combining scientific expertise and state of the art research facilities continues to work closely with communities affected by leprosy, lymphatic filariasis (LF), tuberculosis (TB), and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The research aims to improve quality of care and develop new treatments and techniques for managing NTD related disabilities.
The centre not only researches physical care but also explores the economic and social impact of the diseases; helping to identify the wider needs of people and communities affected, and to design projects in a more appropriate and effective way.
Since its opening, the centre has implemented 50 national and international research projects, published 120 scientific publications, treated more than 5,000 people, and carried out 20,000 lab tests.
