Global Alliance to Eliminate Leprosy (GAEL)
Leprosy, an ancient scourge, has afflicted every country in the world at some stage. Before the development of an effective cure, the only way society dealt with the disease was by isolating sufferers. Virtually every society cast leprosy sufferers out of their families and communities and isolated them in leprosaria or in segregated villages for fear of their spreading the disease. Since the early eighties, the face of leprosy has changed dramatically with the development of multidrug therapy (MDT). Two of the three drugs in MDT, the WHO recommended treatment, were developed by Novartis. MDT cures patients, interrupts the transmission of leprosy and prevents disabilities. To date over 14 million people have been cured of leprosy, and the prevalence rate has dropped by over 90% since 1985 from 21 per 10,000 inhabitants to less than 1 per 10,000 inhabitants. In 1999, at the initiative of WHO the Global Alliance to Eliminate Leprosy was set up to ensure that a common strategy based on experience of past leprosy elimination efforts was adopted, intensively implemented and effectively monitored.

The goal of GAEL is to eliminate leprosy as a public health problem from every country by the year 2005 by increasing the coverage of leprosy services and thereby detecting and curing all the remaining leprosy cases. GAEL includes WHO, governments of endemic countries, Novartis, the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, the Nippon Foundation/Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation, NGOs, DANIDA and the World Bank. Since 2000, Novartis and the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development provide free multidrug therapy for all patients in the world through the WHO (valued at $37 million until the end of 2005). The funds are also provided to cover all freight and handling costs to the designated port of entry, and independent quality control in addition to that carried out by the Novartis group. The introduction of patient packs has led to substantial investment costs by Novartis. During the period of the current donation, Novartis, together with WHO, has developed advocacy material to help change the image of leprosy. The MDT donation has led to the cure of about 3.5 million patients so far, based on WHO estimates. The Novartis Foundation has been actively involved in supporting field programs together with local health ministries, WHO and NGOs since the mid eighties. It has often adopted unconventional approaches to leprosy and pioneered the use of social marketing in combating this disease. The underlying concepts of generating and meeting demand for leprosy treatment are now an integral part of the WHO leprosy elimination strategy. The Foundation has also made a significant contribution to simplifying the provision of disability prevention services in communities. Many of the approaches devised in the Foundation's Comprehensive Leprosy Care Project in India have now been incorporated in the disability care package of the government and of NGOs.