AS THE WHO releases its annual data on leprosy, Lepra reports on its proven health impact in addressing one of the world’s oldest known diseases.
In global health, some diseases dominate headlines. Others don’t.
Leprosy is one of the world’s oldest known diseases, yet in 2025, it is still quietly causing disabilities, isolation, and impacts the lives of millions of people each year, mostly in the poorest and most disadvantaged parts of the world.
Lepra have spent the past 100 years tackling the human and systemic consequences of leprosy. And while it’s tempting to think of it as a disease of the past, the data tells a very different story. Today, Lepra work to bring global attention and institutional investment back to where it’s urgently needed – controlling leprosy, and delivering care, treatment, and lifelong support to the thousands upon thousands of people still affected every year.
Leprosy is still here. We just stopped looking.
Latest figures released from the World Health Organization show more than 170,000 new cases of leprosy were reported globally in 2024. But that number doesn’t tell the whole story as most people living with leprosy are never formally diagnosed.
The true figure is likely 4–5 times higher, hidden behind social stigma, fragile health systems, and a chronic lack of trained personnel. Millions may be living with undiagnosed leprosy, and each untreated case means the disease continues to spread quietly and slowly.
In India, where Lepra is most active, 58 per cent of 2024’s global leprosy cases were detected. Post COVID, an increase in Grade 2 disability (visible damage to hands, feet, eyes) at the time of diagnosis signalled that detection was coming was too late.
Why leprosy doesn’t get funded
One of the biggest paradoxes in global health is that leprosy is curable, preventable, and relatively inexpensive to address. Yet it remains woefully underfunded and neglected.
The reasons are mostly structural. Unlike malaria or polio, leprosy has no high-profile global campaign to keep it in the public eye. It is a disease which disproportionately impacts people living with the consequences of poverty, poor housing, and malnutrition, as these communities have little access to healthcare and often live in remote areas. Such challenges rarely offer quick or visible wins. And it carries a deep, persistent stigma; even after successfully completing treatment and being free from the disease, people affected are often shunned from society. That stigma breeds silence, and silence keeps leprosy invisible to policymakers and funders alike.
What works and why
Here’s the good news: we know how to control leprosy. Diagnosis and treatment are both effective and affordable, and early detection is the key to stopping transmission before it causes irreversible harm. In 2024 alone, Lepra teams screened over 300,000 people through targeted outreach, detecting thousands of new cases, many before disability occurred. Preventive treatment can further break the chain of transmission, but it is the combination of active case-finding and timely diagnosis that truly interrupts its spread. For those already affected, simple interventions such as protective footwear, ulcer care, and mental health support are small, cost-effective investments that deliver lifelong dividends.
Lepra’s ASPIRE programme in Bihar, India, delivered with Effect Hope, a Canadian global health organisation, shows how an integrated, district-wide approach can transform outcomes. By focusing on early detection, disability care, mental health, and gender equity, the programme demonstrates a model that delivers sustainable results.
In just three years, ASPIRE reached more than 2 million people through awareness campaigns, screened 1.2 million people, diagnosed 9,884 new cases and trained 2,500 frontline health workers to recognised the signs and symptoms of Skin NTDs; demonstrating the model’s efficacy and readiness to be scaled up and replicated across states.
A key driver of ASPIRE’s success has been the Rapid Enquiry Survey, a targeted and integrated case-finding strategy piloted in the Jamui district between 2022 and 2023. Working closely with the Government of Bihar, this approach led to extraordinary results, dramatically increasing the number of people diagnosed with leprosy, including children and those with advanced disability, and more than doubling the detection of lymphatic filariasis cases. These gains were achieved because hidden cases were actively sought out, diagnosed earlier, and connected to treatment, breaking the cycle of transmission and preventing lifelong disability.
When detection strategies are integrated, targeted, and properly resourced, they uncover the true scale of disease, strengthen government data, and ensure that resources reach the people who need them most.
In 2025, Lepra’s goal is to build on what works and expand it so that earlier diagnosis, better care, and stronger health systems become the standard in every community still living under the shadow of leprosy and lymphatic filariasis.
Next steps
2026 is a pivotal year for global health. With the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals now in their final sprint and universal health coverage front and centre, the global community has a rare opportunity to contribute meaningfully to controlling leprosy and other skin NTDs.
Yet this moment comes as funding for these diseases is steadily depleting, threatening to undo hard-won progress and leaving millions at risk of late diagnosis, disability, and exclusion.
Lepra doesn’t just treat the disease. It helps to build health systems that recognise, reach, and restore dignity to those left furthest behind. Lepra is scaling what works through expanding referral centres, investing in women-led community health delivery, and ensuring every pound is used to deliver measurable, sustainable impact.
The ‘missing millions’ deserve to be seen, supported, and included in the global health narrative. With continued awareness, Lepra can make 2026 the year leprosy is no longer called a disease of the past and instead recognised as a pressing priority of the present, one that Lepra has the tools and knowledge to control.
For further information on Lepra, please visit www.lepra.org. uk or email lepra@lepra.org.uk
