Leprosy elimination as a public health problem in Comoros (defined as a prevalence rate less than 1 case per 10,000 population) was still not achieved at the end of 2018 despite the implementation of WHO-recommended strategies and the Multiple Drug Therapy (MDT) regimen.
WHO facilitated advocacy, and mobilised resources from the Nippon Foundation (TNF). This included a high-level visit of WHO Goodwill Ambassador for elimination of leprosy, Mr Yohei Sasakawa, to the Comoros in July 2018. In addition, WHO supported the Comoros to plan a Maxi-Leprosy Elimination Campaign (Maxi-LEC) in 2019, financed mainly by TNF (US$ 150,000) and supplied MDT blister packs for treatment of leprosy cases.
Maxi-LEC was launched in October 2019, and strong political commitment and patronage by the Head of State, Members of the Government, with support and representation of the WHO African Regional Director, helped local authorities, community and religious leaders in the sensitization and public awareness activities before and during the Maxi-LEC Campaign.
The campaign achieved massive community mobilization resulting in the screening of around 25,000 persons (7% of the total population of Anjouan), and doubled leprosy annual detection from 275 new cases of leprosy in 2018 to 600 new cases in 2019. All detected cases of leprosy have since been treated with WHO recommended MDT
Pictures // ©The Mission leprosy/WHO/Charles Flint