Task Force on definitions, criteria and indicators for interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy: Report of the final meeting

Overview

Dr VRR Pemmaraju, Technical Officer GLP, briefed the meeting participants on the objectives and expected outcomes of the meeting.

The general Objective of the meeting was to discuss and draft the ‘verification process’ for defining interruption of transmission/elimination of leprosy.

The specific objectives were:

1. To discuss the documents developed by TFCE Land its subcommittees; and make recommendations on the process of verification;
2. To decide on the criteria for defining different phases and specific indicators to be considered to define interruption of transmission and elimination of disease,taking into consideration the NTD Road map 2020‒2030;
3. To advise on a template for Country Dossierto be submitted at the time of claiming achievement of interruption of transmission and elimination of disease;
4. To validate criteria and tools with data from very low or nil burden districts/blocks in India and countries.

The expected results of the meeting included the following:

• ✓Agreement on criteria to define interruption of transmission/elimination of disease;
• ✓Template for Country Dossier developed and ready for field-testing;
• ✓Verification exercise (epidemiological part) conducted for selected districts/blocks in India.