Meeting on sentinel surveillance for drug resistance in leprosy

Abstract

The WHO Global Leprosy Programme (‎GLP)‎ organized a meeting on "Sentinel Surveillance for Drug Resistance in Leprosy" at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo, Japan, from 9-10 November 2010. The surveillance network to study drug resistance in leprosy was established in 2008 to monitor the development of drug resistance, especially to rifampicin, which is the main component of multidrug therapy (‎MDT)‎ for leprosy. Representatives from sentinel sites from 13 countries along with scientists from 10 collaborating laboratories participated in this meeting. Situations of relapses in select countries were reviewed along with the results of surveillance activities carried out during the year 2010. Recent developments to improve sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction (‎PCR)‎ test and issues relating to quality control were also discussed. This is the report of the said meeting.