Meeting of national leprosy programme managers 27-29 July 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Message from Dr Samlee Plianbangchang Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia At the Meeting of National Leprosy Programme Managers 27-29 July 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka (DELIVERED BY DR FIRDOSI MEHTA WHO REPRESENTATIVE, SRI LANKA) Meeting of National Leprosy Programme Managers 27-29 July 2010 Colombo, Sri Lanka Message from: Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia (DELIVERED BY DR FIRDOSI MEHTA WHO REPRESENTATIVE TO SRI LANKA) ------------- With the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT), which WHO has promoted since the early 1980s, cases of leprosy have decreased remarkably worldwide. The elimination of leprosy as a public health problem is a remarkable success story among the global public health issues. As we all know, elimination means a prevalence rate (PR) of less than 1 case per 10 000 population at the national level. The WHO South-East Asia Region, which traditionally accounted for the highest number of new leprosy cases globally, achieved elimination in December 2005 with a PR of 0.87 per 10 000 population. The Regional PR has been further reduced to 0.66 per 10 000 population, with a total of 120 456 cases on treatment in the beginning of 2010. By the end of 2009, elimination at the country level was achieved in 10 of the 11 Member States of the SEA Region, except Timor-Leste which is making concerted efforts towards achieving the goal by the end of 2010. In spite of the above achievements, during 2009, 67% of the total global new cases were detected in the SEA Region. Globally, there are 16 countries that reported 1000 and more new cases during 2009. Six of these countries are in this Region. They are Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Though a large number of new cases are detected annually, these countries have achieved and sustained elimination at the national level and are making concerted efforts to further reduce the leprosy burden. However, there are a number of high- endemic pockets within these countries, and continued support and adequate resources will be crucial to consolidate the gains made and further reduce the burden of the disease in the Region as whole. Public perception and support to leprosy elimination has continued to improve in the Region and the degree of stigma and social discrimination towards the people affected by leprosy has palpably declined. As you all are aware, we are now at critical crossroads in sustaining the gains in our anti-leprosy efforts. It is time now to review the achievements and lessons learnt and to identify challenges in implementing the strategy that has been guiding our efforts during the period 2006 to 2010. This review exercise will guide us towards appropriate implementation of the “Enhanced Global Strategy and Operational Guidelines for Further Reducing the Disease Burden of Leprosy (2011 – 2015)”. Recalling the Global Programme Managers’ Meeting on the Leprosy Control Strategy that was held in April 2009 at the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia in New Delhi, I wish to acknowledge all the partners, people affected by leprosy, national programme managers and experts who have been involved in this initiative and are present here today. The strategy targets the reduction of the Grade2 disability at the national level by at least 35% by the end of 2015 compared with the baseline at the end of 2010. I am sure all of you will agree with me that it is not an easy task but actually a challenge. Again, I am sure that we will only be able to tackle this challenge through our collaborative efforts. This meeting is unique in that we are giving the national programme managers a platform to discuss with the people affected by leprosy, leprosy experts and the partners, most of whom are based in the Member States of our Region. Keeping in mind the need to sustain leprosy control activities in low-endemic countries in the Region, as well as accelerate and intensify leprosy control activities in countries that are reporting large numbers of new cases, I hope that your discussions will focus on the following areas: • Advocacy and awareness. • Sustaining leprosy expertise through capacity-building. • Case detection and management. • Prevention of disabilities and community-based rehabilitation. I firmly believe that our joint efforts will be even more fruitful when we ensure the participation of persons affected by leprosy in improving leprosy services, especially in identifying leprosy cases in communities and referring these cases for timely and appropriate treatment with MDT. Your discussions over the next three days will help determine the success of our concerted efforts.