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In October the Partnership conducted its second country review of 2019 in Morocco. The review was requested by the Moroccan National Leprosy Programme, headed by Dr. Ibtissam Khoudri. The objective of the country review was to take stock of the programme’s current status and define key priorities for the future.

Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI), NLR, and the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) co-hosted a workshop in Amsterdam in November 2019 to discuss issues related to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

A letter from Alice Cruz, GPZL Leadership Team observer, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy and their Family Members, asking for input on the topic of her next thematic report, which will focus on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.

Takahiro Nanri, GPZL Vice Chair and Executive Director of the Sasakawa Health Foundation, was in Comoros last month for the start of a new case detection campaign. This will be the first time a new case detection campaign has been conducted on an island-wide basis on the islands of Anjouan, which is highly endemic for leprosy, and Mohelie.

The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) was well represented at the International Leprosy Congress in Manila, Philippines in September. GPZL’s participation included the presentation of the partnership’s country model and the model’s recent implementation in Nepal, and the launch and a demonstration of GPZL’s new best practices toolkit.

The 2019 NNN (Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network) Conference brought together over 400 people from 54 countries. Examples from the field of leprosy were discussed in many workshops and the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) was highlighted in several sessions.

Resource mobilization is a key part of the work of the partnership, and GPZL is actively working to increase the alignment of existing leprosy funding and to identify and secure new funds.

Dr. Mauricio Lisboa Nobre is a physician specializing in dermatology and leprology working in Natal, and is member of the technical advisor board for Brazil’s national leprosy program. He served as the Brazilian representative on the GPZL leadership team this past year and generously gave his time and expertise to the partnership.

The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) conducted a two-week long country review in Nepal in July 2019.

Dr. Benedict Quao leads the National Leprosy Programme in Ghana, and is the newest member of the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy’s Leadership Team. We sat down with Dr. Quao to talk about his work in Ghana and the role of the partnership in supporting National Leprosy Programme Managers.

Read the 2019 issue of The Star, radiating the light of truth on Hansen’s disease. The purpose of The Star is to: 1) Promote an educated public opinion of Hansen’s disease. 2.) Serve as advocate for those who have experienced … More The Star 2019 →

Dr. Anil Kumar is a man on a mission: an India free of new leprosy cases by 2030 is his goal. His leadership and persistence, coupled with strong political support and partnerships at the community, state, national and global levels, is transforming both understanding of the disease and the way leprosy is treated in the country.

As Head of Novartis Foundation, Dr. Ann Aerts has been a catalyst in the formation of the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy and a key adviser. We spoke to her about the foundation’s contributions to innovations in the field of leprosy, and the steps needed to realize our goal of zero leprosy.

The Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy hosted a webinar on 29 May, 2019 about the partnership’s country model.

Dr. Ibtissam Khoudri leads the leprosy program in Morocco’s Ministry of Health and is a chairperson for the Operational Excellence working sub-group 5. We spoke to her about Morocco’s success in reducing leprosy, the critical issues countries face in trying to get to zero leprosy, and how the partnership’s work can help.

A workshop on research partnerships, held during the Leprosy Research Initiative (LRI) annual meeting 4-5 April, yielded several innovative and exciting potential collaborations. After a comparison of the LRI and Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL) research agendas (both in the process of being finalized and very closely aligned), participants then broke into small groups to discuss how they might collaborate across institutions, disciplines and countries.