After years of conflict, Somalia is revitalizing its health infrastructure to reach people in all parts of the country and reconstituting a national unit on control of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) within the Ministry of Health to include control and elimination of leprosy.
Based on the current disease burden, Somalia fulfils the criteria for a global priority country. Almost 5000 new cases of leprosy have been detected within four years, the number of patients increasing from 107 in 2015 to 2610 in 2018. Of the 2610 new cases detected in 2018, 1207 (46%) were women, 138 (5%) were children and 129 (5%), including three children, presented with grade-2 disabilities or visible deformities.
Deep-rooted stigmatization has prevented many patients from seeking treatment early, leading to visible deformities and disabilities.
Active leprosy case-finding campaigns, initially covering camps of internally displaced people, have been extended to other affected regions. WHO is providing technical support, with funding from The Nippon Foundation.
For the past two centuries, leprosy in Somalia has been limited to pockets of endemicity. However, new cases have emerged in different parts of the country, due partly to population movements caused by drought and protracted civil unrest, and a large number has accumulated in camps that house displaced people.
WHO, in consultation with the newly reconstituted unit on NTD control, conducted a monitoring mission on 13–17 January 2019 to assess the leprosy situation and the progress in implementing the Global Leprosy Strategy 2016‒2020. National data were reviewed, and field visits undertaken to obtain first-hand information on routine services and case detection campaigns.
Staff from the Global Leprosy Programme, the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Country Office evaluated how many patients had completed a full course of multidrug treatment and made recommendations to the national programme on how to improve coverage and quality of services in the country.
The revival of the leprosy elimination programme in Somalia relies on high-level political commitment, and it is now periodically reviewed by the Minister of Health and Human Services Dr Fawziya Abikar Nur, who has called for an end to all forms of stigmatization.
The Minister has also called on health workers and the community to promote early case detection and prompt treatment.
Partners, including the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations, are discussing the possibility of a national partnership to expand country capacity over the next few years.