Editor’s Choice – September 2024

The Editorial in this issue is an important paper by van Brakel et al., presenting appropriate strategies for situations of low endemicity (these may be either whole countries or regions within countries).The paper reports on meetings arranged by the ILEP Technical Commission (ITC) to flesh out recommendations presented in the recent WHO Leprosy Elimination Framework.Important components of the Framework are the definitions of the stages of elimination, which are epidemiologically sound and workable in practice.Clearly, a major feature of such strategies is cost effectiveness, as the reduced caseload means that fewer resources will be available.Integration with services being provided for related conditions is a key step -this applies especially to the management of disabilities and stigma reduction, which will be needed long after active infection is eliminated.A related paper by Haddad et al. examines the evidence indicating that leprosy has indeed been eliminated from Jordan.It shows that countries in this situation need to have in place mechanisms to diagnose and treat leprosy, wherever it may appear.Once this stage has been reached, leprosy transmission does not occur within the country, but cases may be found in visitors, such as migrant workers, who should, of course, receive appropriate treatment and care.