Changing the global face of leprosy | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is working with State Parties to combat the stigma and discrimination associated with people who have leprosy. In the past 20 years, more than 14 million people who have leprosy have been treated and the numbers of people suffering from the disease have decreased dramatically.

Even though leprosy has been eliminated from 119 out of the 122 countries where the disease was considered a public health problem in 1985, persons affected by leprosy continue to face high levels of exclusion in society. This exclusion also leads to people with leprosy not being represented well in the disability rights movement, nationally and globally because people still hold the misconception that leprosy is not a disability issue.

To impove this issue, leprosy programmes around the world need to be further improved. The Conference of States Parties to the CRPD is the world’s largest and most diverse global disability meeting that brings together high-level Government officials, UN agencies, leading civil society organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities, academia, practitioners and service providers. The event on leprosy hopes to draw greater attention to issues by sharing the concerns of persons with leprosy with this key audience to better ensure that their voices and needs are included in the global disability and development agenda.

To read more on the event, please click here.