Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, seems like a disease only found in history books, but it affects roughly 200,000 new people each year. That’s 200,000 people facing disability, pain, and social stigma. To ensure that all people can live free from risk of leprosy, countries where the disease remains are reviewing their National Leprosy Programs to make their activities more effective in achieving zero infection and disease, zero disability, and zero stigma and discrimination.
A recent review found that Ghana has several strengths in its national program to fight leprosy and reduce disability, including: availability of resources for leprosy care and conducting contact tracing to find and help those affected by the disease. The review also identified areas of improvement to help accelerate Ghana’s progress, including: adequate logistical support, sufficiently trained medical staff, and a robust surveillance system.
The Task Force’s Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy is conducting country reviews in collaboration with the WHO and the ministries of health in Ghana and other countries to review National Leprosy Programs and identify new approaches to lasting challenges.
Watch to see what the Ghana team learned and how they are applying these insights to reach the goal of zero leprosy by 2040.
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Slideshow – First Country Model Approach to Zero Leprosy: Nepal
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