Prevention
By early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of infected individuals, even a disease as ancient as leprosy can be controlled. People who are in immediate contact with the leprosy patient should be tested for leprosy. Annual examinations should also be conducted on these people for a period of five years following their last contact with an infectious patient. Some physicians have advocated dapsone treatment for people in close household contact with leprosy patients.
The WHO Action Program for the Elimination of Leprosy has adopted a resolution calling for the reduction of leprosy's prevalence to less than one case per 10,000 people by the year 2000. In order to make this possible, educating people about the disease and raising their awareness is of utmost importance. The tuberculosis BCG vaccine, used in many areas of the world, may have an effect in decreasing the incidence of leprosy.
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