PRESS RELEASE

Date: 8 September 2021
​SFLG celebrates its 125th year and launches a pioneering new programme -
Six new projects will actively find and treat people with leprosy and prevent disability
London, UK: St Francis Leprosy Guild is delighted to announce that for the first time in its 125-year history, it is partnering with six other leprosy organisations in six new projects that will actively find and treat people with leprosy. This pioneering proactive approach means that the spread of leprosy can be stopped and the disability caused by the undetected disease, can be prevented.    

SFLG’s TRACE operating strategy is putting an emphasis on active case-finding (ACF); early detection of leprosy followed by treatment with multidrug therapy reflecting new global approaches in the ongoing fight against leprosy. 

SFLG considered 52 different projects for ACF and finally selected six "winners" with new and current partners as follows: ALERT-INDIA (India), Bombay Leprosy Project (India), Dhanjuri Leprosy Centre (Bangladesh), Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (Pakistan), New Hope Rural Leprosy Trust (India), Anandaban Leprosy Hospital, TLM Nepal (Nepal). 
ALERT-INDIA (Association for Leprosy Education), founded in 1978, is committed to improve the health and social status of people affected by leprosy and other communicable diseases with a special focus on vulnerable groups such as tribal, women, children and disabled. The project with SFLG will identify people affected by leprosy, treat, cure, care, prevent disability and the spread of infection. The project will focus on the neglected tribal and rural leprosy endemic geographies of Palghar district of Maharashtra which has high incidences of leprosy transmission, disability and child leprosy cases.
​Bombay Leprosy Project (India) is an NGO founded by the eminent leprologist, Dr R Ganapati, who transformed leprosy work from a closed institutionalised approach to a widespread community-based intervention. The project with SFLG will increase awareness of leprosy and COVID-19 in the Dharavi slums of Mumbai and encourage active community life. This project will be achieved by training and engaging local community volunteers who will conduct door-to-door awareness campaigns.  
Dhanjuri Leprosy Centre (Bangladesh) known as DLC, operates in the Dinajpur district in northern Bangladesh. DLC identifies and treats leprosy in 13 clinics across the region, provides treatment for local villages and carries out a range of outreach work to detect new cases. A longstanding partner of SFLG's, the project will provide leprosy treatment for local villages and will carry out a range of outreach work to detect new cases. 

Read more about how DLC supports people with leprosy   ​
Picture
Soubas with his daughter and son, treated for leprosy by DLC. Copyright: SFLG
Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (Pakistan) known as MALC, has been working in Pakistan for over 60 years in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. In Karachi, MALC runs its own 64 bed hospital and operates 10 sub-centres. MALC has worked with SFLG for the past 15 years. The overall goal of the joint project is to reduce the spread of leprosy, especially multibacillary cases, in the high endemic areas of Landhi Korangi and Maskan-e-Rahat, through early diagnosis and treatment and awareness raising. 

Read more about how MALC supports people with leprosy 
Picture
Hamza, a patient at MALC, being treated for an ulcer caused by leprosy. Copyright: SFLG
New Hope Rural Leprosy Trust (India) is an NGO founded and run by the acclaimed leprosy campaigner, Eliazar T Rose. The NGO  is based in the Muniguda District of Odisha where it treats over 2,500 patients a month. A long-term partner of SFLG's, this ambitious project will check the entire 79,000+ population of Muniguda for leprosy. Over the three year project term, all those who are newly diagnosed with leprosy, will be reported to the government to be acknowledged as patients and treated by MDT. The project will also establish those affected by leprosy who have been treated over the last eight years and check their contacts for the disease. New Hope seeks to change the status of leprosy from a stigmatised disease to one that is treatable and not to be feared. 

Read more about how New Hope and ACF
Picture
Contact tracing in a village near Muniguda. Copyright: SFLG
Both New Hope and St Francis Leprosy Guild are on a new path and as partners and co-collaborators we believe the goals will be achieved, said Eliazar Rose, Founder of New Hope. Thank you for SFLG's faith in our ability to implement the leprosy elimination project. This approach is the first major step towards a new generation of people in a community without the fear of leprosy. 
Anandaban Hospital (TLM Nepal) is an acclaimed leprosy hospital and rehabilitation centre with a world-renowned research institute. It is part of The Leprosy Mission. The project with SFLG will train 30 community health volunteers to find hidden cases of leprosy in the high-risk area of Nepal’s Province 2, where almost half of all new cases of leprosy are detected in Nepal. There is an urgent need to escalate the detection of the disease so that people can be diagnosed early and receive the treatment they desperately need and to prevent disability. The volunteers will also carry out contact tracing and contacts not displaying symptoms will be given a single dose of rifampicin. 
“There is an urgent need to escalate the detection of the disease so that people can be diagnosed early and receive the treatment they so desperately need and to prevent disability” said Anandaban Programme Leader, Dirgha Hitan
St Francis Leprosy Guild has been caring for people with leprosy for the past 125 years, said SFLG Chief Executive Officer, Clare McIntosh. Since its foundation we have provided nursing care for people with leprosy, treating patients and the disabilities caused by the disease. Now we are rising to a new challenge and a new strategic focus. Working with our partners, we will actively find people with leprosy, many of whom live in remote locations, and start the treatment immediately. Early diagnosis and treatment stops the transmission of leprosy and prevents lifelong disabilities from developing.  An end to leprosy just might be in sight. 
ACF is a key component of SFLG’s TRACE strategy. Leprosy is a contagious disease, passed from person to person. It can only be fully eradicated if everyone with leprosy can be found. SFLG's focus is on diagnosing and treating people as early as possible, before disabilities and deformities can evolve and before it can be passed on to others.

SFLG works with other leprosy organisations to carry out vital community outreach work, raising awareness of the disease, monitoring for early symptoms, and overseeing treatment. This type of work is key in rural and remote communities, where people can be many miles from medical facilities with no means of transport. As well as seeking out new cases, ACF also involves tracing the close contacts of leprosy patients, so that they can be screened for the disease, meaning the chain of infection can be broken.
Contact tracing has proven vital to slowing the spread of the disease, and routing out potential cases. 

Read more about active case-finding. 
For more information or interviews please contact:                 
           
Tel: +44 (0)7754 592240
Email: [email protected] 

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