At its 130th Executive Board, WHO renewed official relations with the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations for the years 2012 – 2014.

This status will allow ILEP to continue working closely with WHO’s Global Leprosy Programme. As a non-governmental organisation in official relations ILEP will be able to submit comments on WHO’s programme and priority setting proposals.

WHO and ILEP have jointly agreed the following programme of collaboration for the next three years, which will be taken forward with Dr Sumana Barua, Team Leader of WHO’s Global Leprosy Programme, who has been appointed as the Federation’s Designated Technical Officer:

I. WHO will advocate to countries the role of ILEP and its Member-Associations in support of national leprosy control programmes.

II. ILEP will advocate to countries the role of WHO in support of national leprosy control programmes and inclusive programmes of community-based rehabilitation.

III. ILEP and WHO will work to promote and implement the Enhanced Global Strategy for Further Reducing the Disease Burden due to Leprosy 2011 – 2015 (link) and support the use of its accompanying Operational Guidelines (link) for the implementation of the Enhanced Global Strategy in all national programmes.

IV. ILEP and WHO will continue to work to further reduce the burden of leprosy by promoting, at country level, co-ordinated collaborative national leprosy control activities, including national capacity building. This will include development and promotion of Guidelines on Capacity Development (in process) based on the guiding principles of the current Enhanced Global Strategy. A new focus will be on reducing disability burden among new leprosy cases. 

V. ILEP and WHO will jointly promote prevention of disabilities and rehabilitation for persons and families affected by leprosy including support to initiatives to reduce stigma and discrimination. This will include support for addressing human rights issues and for broader networking with other organisations promoting inclusive rehabilitation and development. This will include support in promoting and implementing Guidelines for Strengthening Participation of Persons Affected by Leprosy in Leprosy Services (link).

VI. ILEP and WHO will continuously strive to improve the quality of patient care and promote the fight against stigma and discrimination faced by persons and families affected by leprosy.

VII. ILEP and WHO will promote research initiatives to find better tools for further reducing the leprosy burden, including operational research and the search for newer drug regimens to counter the threat of drug resistance in the long term.

VIII. ILEP and WHO will advocate the need to sustain leprosy activities in all endemic countries.

IX. ILEP and WHO will collaborate in the collection of data and production of global statistics including special data as required to provide an evidence-base for the Enhanced Global Strategy 2011 – 2015.

X. ILEP and WHO will share information on, promote and distribute teaching and learning materials on leprosy including support to WHO’s efforts to conduct workshops for programme managers at national and sub-national levels for the next three years.

XI. ILEP and WHO will continue to promote participation in each others’ meetings as required and identify areas for further collaboration through joint activities. The ILEP Technical Commission and WHO Technical Advisory Group will continue to collaborate on all technical issues beyond 2011.

The members of the WHO Executive Board noted their appreciation for collaboration and continuing dedication to the work of the WHO of the non-governmental organisations with whom it decided this January to maintain official relations. These are indicated by an asterisk in the annex at the end of the following report:

http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB130/B130_31-en.pdf

 

Categories: International Collaboration