200,000 leprosy cases reported annually: WHO

By Riyaz ul Khaliq <br> <br> ANKARA (AA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) said nearly 200,000 leprosy cases are reported every year, media reports said Friday. <br> <br> A WHO official told Indian wire news service, Press Trust of India (PTI), that leprosy-related “discrimination, stigma and prejudice” were the most powerful barriers to ending the disease. <br> <br> Regional Director of WHO for South-East Asia Poonam Khetrapal Singh also said that almost half of the cases reported in a year come from India. <br> <br> Singh said the number of worldwide leprosy cases has “steadily declined” but “an estimated 200,000 cases continue to be reported every year.” <br> <br> In its fight against the disease, India repealed two archaic legislations – one that discriminated against those affected by leprosy and another which allowed it as legitimate grounds for divorce. <br> <br> “Significant numbers [of leprosy victims] are detected in the South-East Asia Region, Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific,” Singh said. <br> <br> “Leprosy-related discrimination, stigma and prejudice are the most powerful barriers to ending leprosy for good, especially given the disease is 100 percent curable when detected early,” he added. <br> <br> To reduce leprosy’s incidence and spread, the WHO official said disease’s bio-social components must be brought to the fore.