19th International Leprosy Congress with Swiss TPH as academic partner

The 19th International Leprosy Congress (ILC) is being held in Beijing from 18-21 September under the motto 'Unfinished Business: stopping transmission, preventing disability, promoting inclusion'. The 19th International Leprosy Congress (ILC) is being held in Beijing from 18-21 September under the motto 'Unfinished Business: stopping transmission, preventing disability, promoting inclusion'. Leprosy was an early focus of disease-specific control efforts, and over 16 million leprosy patients have already completed multi-drug therapy. However, it remains the case that over 200,000 new leprosy patients are diagnosed every year, and morbidity management as well as social inclusion and socio-economic rehabilitation of leprosy patients continue to present huge challenges. Current research efforts focus on the interruption of leprosy transmission, e.g. with a single dose of rifampicin given to of newly diagnosed leprosy patients. This approach is being assessed in the frame of the multi-partner Leprosy Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (LPEP) programme funded and coordinated by the Novartis Foundation. Swiss TPH is one of the academic partners involved in this project.