Brazzaville, 29 August 2007 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) African Region has registered significant progress in eliminating leprosy , with 44 out of the 46 countries reaching the leprosy elimination target in 2007.

This was disclosed Monday by the Organization’s Regional Director for Africa , Dr Luis Sambo , in a report to the region’s health ministers at their fifty-seventh session taking place in Brazzaville , Republic of Congo.

However , in spite of the progress made , Africa still remains the second most affected region (with 41 ,239 new reported cases in 2006) , behind South East Asia , where 201 ,635 cases were recorded in the same year.

Dr Sambo attributed the success in leprosy elimination in Africa to factors such as high political commitment, global support to all WHO Member States in reducing the leprosy burden, availability of the free leprosy medicines for all patients, and good coordination of both interventions and partners at country level.

Still , significant challenges remain to be addressed , according to the Regional Director , who stated that two countries --- the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique were still highly endemic.

Dr Sambo explained that although many countries have reached the elimination goal at national level , there were still disparities at district level – with some highly endemic districts having a prevalence rate of more than one case per 10 ,000 population.

Calling on countries not to relent in their efforts, he cautioned: “Compared to other significant health problems faced by countries in the Region, leprosy is at risk of losing political commitment and priority status, while much still remains to be done to consolidate the achievements”.

The Regional Director pledged WHO’s support to countries to design and implement strategies to achieve the elimination of leprosy at subnational level.

For more information contact:

Technical contact

Dr A. Barryson

Tel: + 47 241 39918

Email: barrysona [at] afro.who.int (barrysona[at]afro[dot]who[dot]int)

Media Contact

Samuel T. Ajibola

Tel: + 47 241 39378

Email: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int (ajibolas[at]afro[dot]who[dot]int)