Regional Director’s Opening Address at the 21st Meeting of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Leprosy

Welcome to the 21^st meeting of the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Leprosy.

I would like to begin by thanking you for your continued service on this advisory body. Our progress is driven by your experience and expertise, and I have no doubt that your insights will be impactful during this meeting.

As you know, we have made remarkable progress over the last four decades in reducing the global burden of leprosy. We have cause to celebrate very recent advances as well.

Earlier this year, Jordan, from our WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, becamethe very first country in the world to be verified and acknowledged by WHO for eliminating leprosy.

Last year, the Maldives, from our South-East Asia Region, undertook the first phase of sub-national verification of the interruption of transmission.

For the Global Leprosy Programme, both milestones are a cause for celebration. I would like to congratulate all our Technical Advisory Group members for their part in these successes.

I am pleased that we are also seeing increased engagement with WHO's reporting mechanisms. Last year, a record 184 countries and territories submitted reports. Notably, 56 countries reported zero new cases, positioning them as potential candidates for leprosy elimination.

Despite these milestones, 182,815 new cases were reported globally in 2023. Over 5% of these affect children - a stark reminder that we have far to go.

Diagnosing and treating leprosy in children presents unique challenges. We have to ensure that diagnostic and treatment protocols are updated to meet these needs.

I look forward to your expert guidance on these critical areas as we make efforts towards the elimination of leprosy.

As 2024 comes to a close, we have set our sights on three main priorities for next year.

The first of these priorities is to identify which country can succeed Jordan as the next to eliminate leprosy. One of the major learnings from Jordan is that dedication is needed from the highest levels of government to be successful. Jordan's success is borne from the commitment from the Hon'ble Minister of Health Dr. Feras Ibrahim Hawari.

Thus, our first priority is to identify which country is able to make the necessary commitment at a high-level to the task at hand. I am pleased to say that countries have indicated their motivation to follow Jordan's example.

Our second priority is the global expansion of post-exposure prophylaxis with single-dose rifampicin. We are extremely pleased and grateful to Novartis for their generous contributions to making this possible. Our programmatic intervention is to identify countries and prepare them for this scale-up.

Finally, our third priority is to tackle the stigma and discrimination which has long surrounded this disease. It is important to remember that leprosy is more than a medical disease - it is also a mental health and social disease. We must therefore expand our care and support to persons affected by the disease to include these aspects.

Chair, Technical Advisory Group members,

During this meeting, I urge you to provide your insights on all agenda items-from reviewing trends, guidance, and products, to evaluating our plans for the next year.

I particularly encourage you to focus on identifying gaps, challenges, and opportunities, especially in advancing our efforts to eliminate leprosy.

Achieving a world with zero leprosy, zero disability due to leprosy, and zero stigma and discrimination is within our reach.

Once again, I thank all of you for your commitment to this cause, and I wish you all a successful and productive meeting.

Thank you.

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