Participants finalised a Consensus Statement on Prevention of Disability at a meeting held 13th-16th September in the Philippines co-sponsored by American Leprosy Missions, the World Health Organization and the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations. The statements include the contribution of people affected by disability, whose experiences provided invaluable insights for both the content and the validity of the consensus.

The statements centred on the following five areas related to the prevention of disability:

• Ensuring that people with reactions and neuritis are treated as early as possible
• Simple approaches that can be developed to promote home-based self-care
• Pre-requisites for an effective footwear programme
• Essential recording and reporting requirements for effective prevention of disability
• Priorities for research in prevention of disability

It is hoped its conclusions can complement or be used together with existing national programme policies on the prevention of disability, taking into account prevailing socio-cultural factors. The ideal would be for prevention of disability activities to become an integral part of routine case management for chronically disabling conditions. 

Download the Consensus Statement on Prevention of Disability   

Category: Technical information