Review on the Burden of Leprosy in Ethiopia

Leprosy is one of the major neglected diseases in Ethiopia. The presence of the disease was detected severalyears ago, and the prevalence was decreased from its higher level (19.8% per 10,000 populations) in 1983 to itslower level (0.5% per 10,000 populations) in 2012 due to the introduction of the Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT) and thedecentralization of the treatment centers. The prevalence has been seen with high disparity across the fourteenregions in the country, but the major contributors for the national prevalence were Oromiya, Amhara, and SNNP(Southern Nations Nationality and People) respectively. Even if, the prevalence in the country dropped to the lowerstage and met the WHO goal (1case per 10,000 Populations) the occurrence of new cases remains a challenge.Access to the recently published articles on the specific topic and the narrowed scope of the available publishedworks were a challenge to this review. Further studies to indicate the epidemiological factors of the emerging cases,and cooperation between the national and regional governments for integrated surveillance and staffs training weresuggested mainly for the betterment control and prevention of the diseases across the country