Fighting leprosy

The fight against leprosy is a public health success story. Today, only four countries in the world face a prevalence of leprosy exceeding one case per 10 000 inhabitants, compared to 122 countries in 1985. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported approximately 225 000 leprosy cases worldwide at the beginning of 2007 – a reduction of about 98% compared to the early 1980s.

Multi-drug therapy (MDT) has revolutionized the treatment of leprosy. MDT cures leprosy patients, interrupting transmission of the disease after the first dose of medication and preventing disabilities. Two of the three drugs used in MDT were developed in the research laboratories of Novartis.

Nearly all of the global supply of MDT is provided by a collaboration between the WHO and Novartis. Based on estimates from the WHO, Novartis MDT donations helped cure about 4.5 million patients in the past seven years. Since 2000, we have supplied more than 37 million blister packs at a cost of about USD 64 million.