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Leprosy patients in India and Nepal will continue to be treated with
medicines supplied free by the pharmaceuticals company Novartis.
The free drugs agreement between the company and the World Health Organization, due initially to run from 2000 to 2005, has been extended to 2010. The drugs to be provided are valued at up to $24.5million (£14m) and will be distributed to nine countries altogether.
Novartis says progress made to eliminate leprosy worldwide is promising. At the beginning of this year the number of registered cases was 286,000, about 38 per cent fewer than at the start of 2004. The number of new cases last year was also 21 per cent lower than in 2003.
The improvement is said to be due largely to better services and the integration of leprosy treatment into the general health system, making a multi-drug therapy developed by Novartis available even in remote areas.
Since 1985 more than 14 million have been cured by the therapy. Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive of Novartis, said: 'We are reaffirming our commitment to helping patients with leprosy and helping to eliminate this disease as a public health problem. The progress made to date in this partnership is evidence of the benefits of this public-private partnership, and gives us motivation in our fight against other endemic diseases in the developing world.'
The other countries where leprosy remains a public health problem are Angola, Brazil, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania.
The free drugs agreement between the company and the World Health Organization, due initially to run from 2000 to 2005, has been extended to 2010. The drugs to be provided are valued at up to $24.5million (£14m) and will be distributed to nine countries altogether.
Novartis says progress made to eliminate leprosy worldwide is promising. At the beginning of this year the number of registered cases was 286,000, about 38 per cent fewer than at the start of 2004. The number of new cases last year was also 21 per cent lower than in 2003.
The improvement is said to be due largely to better services and the integration of leprosy treatment into the general health system, making a multi-drug therapy developed by Novartis available even in remote areas.
Since 1985 more than 14 million have been cured by the therapy. Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive of Novartis, said: 'We are reaffirming our commitment to helping patients with leprosy and helping to eliminate this disease as a public health problem. The progress made to date in this partnership is evidence of the benefits of this public-private partnership, and gives us motivation in our fight against other endemic diseases in the developing world.'
The other countries where leprosy remains a public health problem are Angola, Brazil, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania.
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