{"id":1577,"date":"2021-06-06T01:57:48","date_gmt":"2021-06-06T01:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patriciadeviaangarita.com\/?page_id=1577"},"modified":"2021-09-23T01:46:30","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T01:46:30","slug":"what-is-leprosy-disease","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patriciadeviaangarita.com\/en\/what-is-leprosy-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Leprosy Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Data and numbers<\/p>\n

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a curve-shaped acid-fast bacillus. It mainly affects the skin, peripheral nerves, the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and the eyes. Leprosy is a curable disease. If treated in the early stages, disability can be avoided.<\/p>\n

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The disease and its treatment<\/p>\n

Leprosy is an ancient disease, already described in the literature of ancient civilizations. Throughout history, people with leprosy have been ostracized by their communities and families.
\nIn the past, the treatment of leprosy was different. The first major breakthrough was made in the 1940s with the development of dapsone. The long duration of treatment – years or often a lifetime – made compliance difficult. In the 1960s, M. leprae became resistant to dapsone, the only antileprosy drug known at the time. Rifampicin and clofazimine were discovered early in the decade and later added to the therapeutic regimen that was later called multi-drug therapy (MMT).<\/p>\n

In 1981, the WHO recommended MMT, which currently consists of three drugs: dapsone, rifampin, and clofazimine. Treatment lasts 6 months in paucibacillary cases and 12 months in multibacillary cases. TMM kills the pathogen and cures the patient.<\/p>\n

Since 1995, the WHO has provided free MMT to all the world’s leprosy patients. Initially, the TMM was funded by the Nippon Foundation, and since 2000 through a grant agreement with Novartis, which has recently committed to extending the grant until 2020.<\/p>\n

The elimination of leprosy as a public health problem (defined as a recorded prevalence of less than 1 case per 10,000 population) was achieved worldwide in 2000. Over the past 20 years, more than MMTs have been treated with MMT. 16 million leprosy patients.<\/p>\n

WHO response<\/p>\n

The Global Leprosy Strategy 2021\u20132030 \u201cTowards zero leprosy\u201d was developed through a broad consultative process with all major stakeholders during 2019 and 2020. Valuable inputs were provided by national leprosy programme managers, technical agencies, public health and leprosy experts, funding agencies and persons or members of communities directly affected by leprosy.<\/p>\n

The Strategy aims to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It is structured along four pillars:<\/p>\n