This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
　　
The World Health Organization says its ten-year campaign to remove leprosy as
a world health problem has been successful. Doctor Gro Harlem Brundtland is
head of the Geneva-based W-H-O. She says the number of leprosy cases around
the world has been cut by ninety percent during the past ten years. She says
efforts continue to completely end the disease.
　　
Leprosy is caused by bacteria spread through liquid from the nose and mouth.
The disease mainly affects the skin and nerves. However, if leprosy is not
treated leprosy it can cause permanent damage to the skin, nerves, eyes, arms
or legs.
　　
In Nineteen-Ninety-Nine, an international campaign began to end leprosy. The
World Health Organization, governments of countries most affected by the
disease, and several other groups are part of the campaign. This alliance
guarantees that all leprosy patients, even if they are poor, have a right to
the most modern treatment.
　　
Mizz Brundtland says leprosy has affected humans since the very beginning of
recorded history. However, she says it is no longer a disease that requires
life-long treatments by medical experts. Instead, patients can take what is
called a “multi-drug therapy,” or M-D-T. This modern treatment will cure
leprosy in six to twelve months, depending on the form of the disease. The
treatment combines several drugs taken daily or once a month.
　　
The W-H-O has given M-D-T to patients free for the last five years. The
international drug company Novartis has been manufacturing and providing the
treatment without cost. It says it will continue to provide M-D-T until
Two-Thousand-Five.
　　
The members of the alliance against leprosy plan to target the countries
still threatened by leprosy. Among the estimated six-hundred-thousand victims
around the world, the W-H-O believes about seventy percent are in India. The
disease also remains a problem in South America, especially in Brazil.
　　
The biggest barriers to completely controlling leprosy may be in Africa. The
World Health Organization says this continent is the second most affected
area in the world. Yet, the rise of AIDS and other deadly diseases along with
armed conflicts and social tension make treating leprosy in Africa difficult.
　　
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.