Global Consultation for updating operational plans for island countries and countries close to elimination of leprosy: towards implementation of the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030
Leprosy is one of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) targeted for elimination (interruption of transmission), along with onchocerciasis and human African trypanosomiasis. This is aligned with “Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: a roadmap for neglected tropical diseases 2021–2030 (NTD Roadmap 2030)”, developed pursuant to decision EB146(9) of the WHO Executive Board at its 146th Session in February 2020.
“Technical guidance on interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy disease” and its associated tools, the Leprosy Programme and Transmission Assessment Tool (LPTA) and the Leprosy Elimination Monitoring Tool (LEMT), were prepared following recommendations of the WHO Taskforce for defining cut-offs and criteria for verification of interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy disease (TFCEL), and a series of consultations with experts and national programme managers. The technical guidance defines the three stages a leprosy programme passes through to reach the goal of interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy, thereby facilitating Member States towards reaching the goal of interruption of transmission and elimination of disease.
This major paradigm shift from elimination of leprosy as a public health problem to interruption of transmission follows up on request from countries with extremely low burden to be recognized by WHO for having achieved or achieving the “zero leprosy” status.
The WHO Global Leprosy Programme (GLP), the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (WHO-SEARO) and the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WHO-WPRO) co-organized a “Global Consultation for updating operational plans for island countries and countries close to elimination of leprosy – towards implementation of the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030” in Manila, Philippines, from 11 to 14 July 2023. It was attended by national programme managers, members of the WHO Technical Advisory Group (TAG)- Leprosy, other experts, partners, persons affected by leprosy and WHO staff members.
The Global Consultation was organized with the general objective of updating country operational plans for those island countries and countries close to the goal of interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy to accelerate the implementation of the “Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030: towards zero leprosy”. The specific objectives were to review the current situation, make progress on elimination of leprosy in respective countries and define the way forward towards leprosy elimination in light of the Leprosy Elimination Framework; share successful experiences of implementing activities related to leprosy programmes; identify critical areas needing support to accelerate efforts to improve the implementation of the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030; and update the “Country operational plans to accelerate implementation of the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030”, considering the epidemiological and programmatic situation.
The expected outcomes of this Consultation meeting included receiving updated country operational plans for island countries and other countries close to elimination for implementing the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030 to reach the set targets of the Strategy; developed linkages between national programme managers and donors/partners for implementing the “updated country operational plans” aligning with the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030 and the NTD Roadmap 2030; and documentation of successful programme implementation experience for replication in other similar contexts.