Centenary Year of Dr Stanley Browne

Leprosy Mailing List – February 18th, 2008

Ref.: Centenary Year of Dr Stanley Browne
From: Smith C. W., Aberdeen, UK

Dear Dr Noto,

Derek Browne's paper (LML February 16th, 2008) is an important contribution to the history of leprosy.

I wanted to comment on the last sentence on his article - 'His life is a challenge to us all interested in the eradication of leprosy from the world.' There were a number of calls during the recent highly successful ILA congress for a strategy of leprosy eradication. Clearly there is a degree of popular support and political will for eradication of leprosy but there must be serious reservations about the scientific feasibility. Perhaps a fitting way to celebrate this centenary would be sponsorship of a workshop to explore in depth the feasibility of eradication and to identify what research would be needed to develop the tools that might make eradication possible.

Cairns Smith