LEPRA Health in Action
28 Middleborough
Colchester
CO1 1TG
GREAT BRITAIN

Tel: 44/1206 216700
Fax: 44/1206 762151

lepra@leprahealthinaction.org

www.leprahealthinaction.org

Priorities

LEPRA Health in Action's vision is a world in which the poorest and most marginalised people have equitable access to health and an improved quality of life. Our work fighting leprosy and other diseases of poverty covers not just medical treatment but also health education, measures to prevent disability and curb stigma as well as economic rehabilitation.

The ability of people to be able to self-refer relies not only on the availability of appropriate services but also on enhanced participation from communities. LEPRA works directly with communities, improving people's understanding of the disease to increase self-referral and combat misconceptions that fuel stigma, as well as with local governments to strengthen referral systems and services to prevent disability.

LEPRA's focus for the next two years will be on India, home to more than half of the world's leprosy and 30 per cent of the world's poor. Most of LEPRA India's projects take place in isolated hard to reach rural areas or in urban slums helping vulnerable people.

History

LEPRA Health in Action was established in 1924 as the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association, a medical organisation concentrating on outpatient work and research into leprosy. In recent years, LEPRA has broadened its remit to enable our skills and experience to benefit the control of other diseases of poverty including lymphatic filariasis, malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS. The organisation changed its name to LEPRA Health in Action in 2008 to reflect this expansion of work into new areas.