SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being
Institutions: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
The World Health Organizationβs 2024 leprosy update, published on 12 September 2025, shows that while global efforts under the Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030 are making progress, achieving full elimination still requires more targeted work. WHO has introduced the Leprosy Elimination Framework (LEF) and supporting tools (LEMT and LPTA) that enable both national and sub-national tracking of leprosy transmission interruption, disease elimination, and surveillance post-elimination. These help identify areas with ongoing transmission and monitor whether programme implementation, political commitment, and case detection are adequate.
This report illustrates that eliminating leprosy isnβt just about reducing national case numbers but ensuring that every district or region meets the criteria for interruption of transmission, with sustained surveillance to prevent re-emergence. For India, with its legacy burden of leprosy, sub-district level monitoring, early case detection, and integration with health systems will be vital.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How can India strengthen its district-level surveillance systems, ensure continued funding and political priority, and integrate tools like LEMT and LPTA into its national leprosy control programme?
Follow the full report here: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/382657/WER10037-365-384.pdf?sequence=1