Relapse and Drug Resistance in Leprosy: Present Scenario and Critical Issues

ABSTRACT

The symposium was organized by The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMTI) on the 29 November, 2017 at India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi, India. The meeting was organized for the stakeholders who are engaged in the leprosy elimination programme for an exposure to the recently emerging scenario on relapse and drug resistance in leprosy. A total of sixty three participants including representatives from Government of India, WHO, ILEP, GLRA, LEPRA India, NLR, DFIT, BLP, FMR, NIMHANS, ICMR-NJIL & OMD and ICMR gathered in the symposium. Most of the famous advisors of the country, leprologists and dermatologists of TLM, Safdarjung, Guru Tegh Bahadur hospitals, PGIMER (Chandigarh, India), DLO and SLO of Delhi participated in the symposium. Leprosy researchers and scientists from different organizations across the country also gathered for the deliberations and discussions. The symposium began with a welcome address from the Executive Director, TLM which was followed by inaugural keynote addresses by the experts of the country. Scientific deliberations by the leprologists, dermatologists and laboratory researchers were divided in four main sessions. This symposium had presentations on most current areas of importance such as goals and achievements of NLEP; diagnostics with focus on different forms of disease including neuritic leprosy; newer methods such as imaging for studying CNS involvement; response to therapy; drug resistance in the context of relapses, poor responders, reactions and multibacillary leprosy, transmission, methods and strategies for detection of drug resistance and its surveillance; national and global perspective etc. The Symposium concluded with a plenary session for the road map of a future strategy with recommendations which include molecular detection of drug resistance with focus on relapses, reactions and MB leprosy; confirmation of relevance of novel mutations in animals; networks for drug resistance surveillance and epidemiology of drug resistance in leprosy.