Global leprosy update, 2018: moving towards a leprosy-free world

Overview

National  leprosy programmes have adopted the Global Leprosy Strategy 2016–2020:  Accelerating  towards  a  leprosy-free  world and made plans that  include components of the  strategy adapted to their local situation.The strategy was built on 3 pillars: strengthen government    ownership  and  partnerships, stop  leprosy and  its complications  and  stop  discrimination  and  promote  inclusion.  Detection  of leprosy early and treating patients with multidrug therapy (MDT)  remain the basis of control. People affected by leprosy have participated in programmes in many countries.

The year 2018 marks the mid-point in implementation of the Global Leprosy Strategy, and the data collected were analysed to assess progress made by countries in reaching the targets set for 2020. The web-based data collection tool was customized using an open-source software District Health Information Software (DHIS2) to obtain information on the activities of national programmes, as several national programmes were familiar with DHIS2. The application was made available in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. The tool covers all the essential indicators used in the programme, such as new case detection, registered prevalence, paediatric cases, cases with grade 2 disability (G2D), relapses and treatment completion rates. The tool allows national programmes to assess 5-year trends in programme indicators.

Annual statistics on leprosy for 2018 were received from 161 Member States and territories: 42 in the African Region (AFR), 34 in the Americas Region (AMR), 18 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), 23 in the European Region (EUR), 11 in the South-East Asia Region (SEAR) and 33 in the Western Pacific Region (WPR). The reporting year was the 2018 calendar year for most countries, although some reported on a different 12-month period (e.g. in India, data pertain to the period April 2018–March 2019). The data for previous years (used for trend analysis) was updated with new information received from Member States.