Interviews with two key leaders in leprosy: Professor PL Joshi and Professor Maria Leide.

The International Leprosy Congress (ILC) in Hyderabad (30th January to 4th February 2008) was an opportunity for the leprosy community to come together and share experiences, ideas and examples of best practice. The congress also provided an environment in which politicians, policy makers, field workers, researchers and leprosy affected individuals could interact directly with one another. The Leprosy Review Editorial Board agreed at its meeting prior to the congress that the ILC was an excellent opportunity to obtain the current views of the National Programme Managers of India and Brazil, the two countries which contributed 71% of the new cases reported in 2006. The ILC was not just a convenient location, more importantly it was taking place during a time of significant change: given the process of implementing the recently adopted Global Strategy for 2006–2010, India having achieved the World Health Organization (WHO) defined elimination target and continuing concerns in the leprosy community about integration. Dr. P. L. Joshi and Dr. Maria Leide W. de Oliveira were contacted prior to the congress and both kindly agreed to discuss issues concerning the leprosy programmes in their countries. They were each interviewed using a set of questions compiled by members of the Editorial Board. Dr. Joshi was Professor of Community Medicine in Allahabad for 12 years. More recently he has been Technical Director of the Indian National AIDS Control Organisation and also for vector borne diseases. He had been National Leprosy Programme Manager at the Indian Ministry of Health for six months prior to the congress. Dr. Joshi highlighted the major challenges facing the Indian National Programme as the full integration into mainstream society of leprosy-affected individuals, keeping leprosy issues high on the health agenda with continued commitment from political leaders and the full integration of leprosy care into general health services. The point when all health workers recognise that they are involved in the care of leprosy-affected persons is the goal. He feels integration of diagnosis and treatment is a better use of limited resources. The Indian programme has implemented its 5-year plan with the aim of further reducing the burden of leprosy. The WHO ‘Global Strategy for further reducing the leprosy burden and sustaining leprosy control activities (2006–2010): operational guidelines’ inform the programme and have been implemented successfully. It is hoped that the aim of reducing the leprosy burden will be facilitated by decentralisation with independent monitoring of the programme at the state level. The programme aims at capacity building of health care staff in general and leprosy specifically. There is a focus on prevention of disability and reconstructive surgery. The programme also aims to reduce stigma using information and education. The promotion of National Leprosy Day on 30th January will help to keep leprosy in the public Lepr Rev (2008) 79, 130–133