Isaac Santra

Isaac Santra was an Indian physician, gandhian and social worker, known for his contributions for the eradication of Leprosy from India. The Government of India honoured him in 1956, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his services to the nation.

Biography Isaac Santra was born on 3 November 1892 in Sambalpur in the western part of the Indian state of Odisha to a pastor and his wife in a family with meagre financial resources. Notes on Leprosy in Japan is a publication he has brought out in 1953, post his service in Japan.

After retirement from government service, Santra tried to gather resources and, by obtaining government assistance, he founded Hatibari Kushtashram, in Hatibari, a village near the Jujomura Block[Odisha] states. At a time when Dapsone, a drug for the treatment of leprosy was yet to be formulated, he turned to ancient Indian scriptures such as Sushruta Samhita and came out with a medicine made of chaulmoogra (Hydnocarpus wightianus) and started treating leprosy patients with this drug. and one of his sons, Dilip Kumar Santra is also a medical doctor.