Africa

In the 1980s there were over 1 million cases of leprosy in Africa and in 1990, 42 out of the 46 states comprising the WHO Africa Region were endemic. But with the introduction of free treatment with MDT and the formation of national programmes in every country, leprosy was given a new priority within the health sector.

Africa still grapples with some special problems, including those relating to geographical access (the size of the continent and difficulty of reaching people), cultural access (illiteracy, taboos and poor communication between different groups), financial access (low income levels and largely absent health insurance), and functional access (run down health facilities, lack of trained health workers). A major constraint in many African countries has been war, which destroys health facilities, scares off health workers and displaces populations. Nevertheless, in 2006 the continent reported only 28,000 new cases and renewed efforts are being made by national programmes assisted by WHO and ILEP to ensure the sustainability of quality services even in the face of other devastating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.