WER: Global leprosy (‎Hansen disease)‎ update, 2023: Elimination of leprosy disease is possible – Time to act!

In May 1991, the 44th World Health Assembly, adopted a resolution urging Member States to accelerate efforts towards elimination of leprosy as a public health problem by the year 2000. Most countries had achieved this target by 2010. The Global leprosy strategy 2021–2030, a constituent of the neglected tropical diseases (NTD) road map 2021–2030, calls for accelerating action to reach the goal of zero leprosy (zero disease, zero disability and zero stigma and discrimination). This goal required a new paradigm for countries to move beyond the target of “elimination of leprosy as a public health problem” to “elimination of leprosy disease”. In 2023, WHO released technical guidance on interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy disease. At the core of this guidance is the Leprosy Elimination Framework, which provides a clear pathway through 3 phases, i.e. interruption of transmission, elimination of leprosy disease and post-elimination surveillance, defined in terms of epidemiological milestones. New tools such as the Leprosy elimination monitoring tool and the Leprosy programme and transmission assessment tool have been introduced by WHO to monitor epidemiological situations and assess criteria for verification in 3 domains: political commitment, programme implementation and surveillance. High-quality data collection and reporting are essential to monitor progress towards those milestones.