By 2020, the World Health Organization expects to have eliminated the disease worldwide. The disease will remain a problem in high-endemic areas, which are areas that have high leprosy incidence and have multimillion population densities. In these areas, leprosy has spread rapidly and is still a major health concern. This means that eradicating the disease is a critical first step in preventing re-emergence of the disease.
To achieve leprosy elimination, a number of factors must be in place. For example, a nation must be able to identify and treat its leprosy patients. In addition, the population must have access to adequate health care. In some areas, this can be a problem for vulnerable populations. By 2030, the new case detection rate will be substantially lower than it is today. In Indonesia, the new case detection rate will be 3.7 (90 % CI) new cases per 100,000 people.
Despite progress, leprosy still causes significant suffering. WHO launched the Leprosy Elimination Programme in 1991. The programme’s most striking achievement has been reducing prevalence to an elimination level. This has been achieved despite over-enthusiastic workers not registering many new cases in the past few years, and the WHO’s recent report shows that it is possible to eliminate the disease by 2021.
The new case detection rate will fall substantially from the current levels until the 2030 target. For India, Indonesia, and Brazil, the elimination target has been met. In Indonesia, it will be achieved by the year 2016. In the meantime, new cases detection rates in these countries will decline by 50-90 percent. For the rest of the world, the new case detection rate will be 3.2 (90% CI) per 100,000 in 2023.
The WHO is proud of the progress made during its leprosy elimination campaign. More than 10 million patients have received MDT therapy. The disease’s global prevalence has declined from five million cases in 1985 to less than one million in 2001. By the end of 2000, 107 countries had achieved the country-level elimination target. By 2005, the World Health Organization extended the deadline for leprosy elimination to 2021.
The World Health Organization has established a Task Force on the Criteria for Leprosy Elimination to achieve the goal of elimination by 2020. It will also reduce the incidence of the disease to zero in newly diagnosed cases and to eliminate it worldwide by 2030. The objective is to prevent the disease from spreading to new areas. The WHO is committed to eliminating the disease in its entirety by the year2020. Further, the WHO is committed to working toward complete eradication of leprosy.
The focus on country-level elimination has political merit, but it ignores the tendency for leprosy to cluster below the country level. This suggests that the national level elimination target is too low. In addition, leprosy is not only a global disease, but it affects local levels as well. This is why it is important to continue work towards the elimination of the disease. It is vital to keep an eye on the trends in leprosy and the latest findings will help you make informed decisions.
