Brazzaville, 30 June 2005 -- The World Health Organization (WHO), working with partners and governments of endemic countries, has recorded appreciable progress in combating leprosy in the African Region. However, more efforts should be made in order to eliminate the disease as a public health problem worldwide.

This was said Monday in Brazzaville by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, while opening the annual meeting of Leprosy Elimination Programme Managers. Dr Sambo stated that the African Region reached the leprosy elimination goal in 2002 when 39 of the 46 countries in the Region had leprosy prevalence of only eight per 100 000 inhabitants.

Dr Sambo was represented by the Director of Programme Management at the Regional Office, Dr Paul-Samson Lusamba-Dikassa, who told participants that in spite of the good results achieved in leprosy control, “the infection is still running and 50 000 new cases are detected in the region every year”. More efforts will have to be made to ensure that the disease is eliminated in the Region by the end of 2005. This is the target year set by the international community for the elimination of leprosy as a public health problem in the world.

The Director of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control at the Regional Office, Dr James Mwanzia, outlined the main objective of the meeting. He said that the objective was to facilitate exchange of experiences between countries, WHO and partners, thus contributing to accelerated action for the elimination of leprosy.

Participants are expected to exchange notes on progress achieved in leprosy elimination, contribute to a four-year plan (2006–2010) designed by the Regional Office for leprosy control and make recommendations for accelerated action to eliminate leprosy in all countries in the Region. They are also expected to be introduced to a leprosy case management database which will facilitate the work of leprosy control managers in countries.

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