9 December 2020 · World Health Organization

WHO Report on Global Leprosy Consultation 2020

The World Health Organization organized a Consultation of National Leprosy Programme managers, partners and affected persons to discuss the draft Global Leprosy Strategy, 2021–2030. This virtual event took place from 26 to 30 October 2020. It was attended by more than 450 stakeholders. Contributions were shared through 70 presentations made by stake holders from all Regions. The presentations covered the key strategic approaches: global context, challenges in countries, contact tracing and post-exposure prophylaxis, disability care, interruption of transmission and elimination of disease, stigma and discrimination, research. In addition to numerous comments received through the chatbox and by email, the conclusions and recommendations of this Consultation will guide finalizing the post-2020 Global Leprosy Strategy.

The meeting started with a welcome note by Dr Erwin Cooreman, Team Leader of the Global Leprosy Programme (GLP) of WHO. The consultation was held virtually due to travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The consultation was split into two groups. The ‘East’ session mainly covered participants in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions; while the ‘West’ session covered participants from the WHO African, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean and European Regions. The two sessions followed the same agenda but took place at a different time. Each session lasted for 2.5 to 3 hours for four consecutive days. Translation into English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian was provided for the ‘West’ session; while the ‘East’ session was conducted in English only. Due to time constraint and the limitations of the virtual meeting, participants were requested to make comments through the zoom chat box or send comments by email. All comments and feedback received would be taken into consideration while finalizing the strategy. Read the full report.