01454nas a2200169   4500000000100000008004100001260001200042653001000054653002400064653001200088100001400100245007800114856007600192300000900268520099300277022001401270       2024                            d  c12/202410aIndia10aDisease elimination10aleprosy1 aStaples J00aFrom leprosy to ground zero: Imagining futures in a world of elimination.  uhttps://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/maq.12905  a1-133 a<p>Achieving a target of zero-zero disease, zero disability, and zero discrimination-has become the dominant focus of campaigns to control or eliminate diseases, from HIV/AIDS to malaria to leprosy. Given the historical failure of most eradication programs over the last century, such teleological imaginings of disease-free futures might seem overly utopian. But even if it were possible to eradicate such diseases in their entirety, would this be universally welcomed, even by those most affected by them? In this article, I compare the narratives of national and international bodies concerned with eliminating leprosy, in particular, with the more ambivalent narratives of those affected by the disease in India, the country where the disease is most prevalent. For the latter, the promise of elimination not only seems unrealistic, but represents a potential loss of identity. Imagining disease trajectories in less linear terms, I argue, might also nuance understanding of them.</p>  a0745-5194