urrent donor (Nippon Foundation) stops funding WHO initiative on surveillance of drug resistance in leprosy

Leprosy Mailing List – December 8^th, 2010

Ref.:   Current donor (Nippon Foundation) stops funding WHO initiative on surveillance of drug resistance in leprosy

From: Das P K, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Dear Salvatore,

The letter of Pannikar (LML Dec. 5^th, 2010), concerning the stop on funding WHO initiative on Surveillance of drug resistance in leprosy, indeed comes as a distress,  although I felt for sometime that this is coming.

In the face of this fact, it is high time that the missionaries (who had been always the main parties), the leprosy researchers (clinical and non clinical), management personals in the field, expert health workers, should come together to help in generating a Robust strategy, for leprosy control in the world of evolving status of leprosy, a forgotten disease, though continuing as a matter of fact.

However, one has to face it with the fact that WHO and ILEP had spent lot of money in supporting various forms of research towards this goal and lot of publications were generated throughout the past decades and many became renowned as expert or even legendary leprologist.  Now is the time we should ask ourselves some soul searching questions, whether a robust effective surveillance guidelines have been achieved, which can be put into "general health care system" in any country e.g. from endemic to non-endemic regions of the Globe.

Dr Pannikar's timely appeal will probably bring some enthusiasts together.

Yours sincerely,

Pran