Working together for a world free from leprosy

Founded in 1966, ILEP is a Federation of 14 international non-governmental organisations.

Our Members

Our Members work in 63 countries where some $60 million is spent on 700 projects and over $2.5 million is spent on leprosy research per year. We support a technical commission of world experts on leprosy.

Together we are stopping transmission of leprosy. Every two minutes one more person is diagnosed and starts treatment for leprosy.

Together we are preventing disability due to leprosy. Millions of people around the world are still disabled by leprosy, which if left untreated, causes nerve damage and disfigurement of the face and limbs; lack of sensation can lead to injury and blindness.

Together we are fighting the stigma of leprosy which can cause people affected and their families to be shunned and excluded from everyday life, their rights ignored.

We have a revised structure in place comprising new Governance, Advisory Boards and the ILEP Office in Geneva. We moved the ILEP Office to Geneva in April 2015 to align our Members work more closely with the wider global health community. This ensures ILEP is learning from those working on other diseases and aligned with those working on neglected tropical diseases as well as the disability community.

We have a new ILEP strategy for 2015 2018

*Source: WHO website, leprosy fact sheet no. 101, updated May 2015.