World Leprosy Day 2025: Unite, Act, and Eliminate Leprosy for Stigma Free Future - Saima Wazed

Celebrated annually on the last Sunday of January, World Leprosy Day serves to raise awareness about leprosy—a neglected tropical disease—and to inspire the global community to unite to eliminate it.

As we observe World Leprosy Day 2025, we reaffirm our commitment to this year’s theme: “Unite, Act, and Eliminate Leprosy.”

Longstanding stigma around this disease stubbornly persists, and misinformation only adds to the challenge. The social isolation of affected persons – and their families – perpetuates discrimination and intensifies stigma.

While significant progress has been made in reducing the burden of leprosy since the introduction of multi-drug therapy (MDT) and the 1991 World Health Assembly resolution, challenges remain.

In 2023, 182,815 new cases were reported across more than 100 countries, with 95% of these cases concentrated in 23 global priority countries. Alarmingly, over 5% of the new cases reported with Grade 2 Disability (visible deformity), highlighting delays in detection.

5.6% of new cases were among children, with some countries reporting child rates exceeding 30%, indicating ongoing transmission. Despite this, there are reasons for optimism.

The Global Leprosy Strategy 2021–2030 has a vision of zero disease, zero disability, and zero stigma and discrimination. It was developed through a broad consultative process with all major stakeholders, including national programme managers, technical agencies, experts, and persons or communities directly affected by leprosy.

Jordan became the first country to be verified and acknowledged by WHO for elimination of leprosy, demonstrating what is possible with focused, concerted efforts. Additionally, in 2023, 56 countries reported zero new case of leprosy, a significant milestone.

We can eliminate leprosy with collective, coordinated and united action.

Therefore, we urge governments to prioritize leprosy elimination, and ensure sustained funding for surveillance, treatment, care and support. We also call on them to include persons affected by leprosy in policy and decision-making processes.

We urge communities to combat stigma through education, inclusion, and supporting those affected. We thank donors, international organizations, and academia for their efforts, and ask them to collaborate for continued research into improved diagnostics, treatments, and approaches.

The end of leprosy is not just a possibility—it is within our grasp. Let’s ‘Unite, Act, and Eliminate Leprosy.’

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