Research component in the global alliance
2000; British Leprosy Relief Association; Volume: 71; Linguagem: Inglês
10.5935/0305-7518.20000093
ISSN2162-8807
Autores ResumoDuring the past 15 years, tremendous progress has been made in controlling leprosy, primarily the result of the widespread implementation of multidrug therapy (MDT).Although many factors led to the success of MDT, it is fair to state that the development of the standard MDT regimens played a decisive role.The design of the regimens was based on knowledge generated by earlier research activities, including a better understanding of the threat of dapsone resistant leprosy, and the availability of newer drugs, such as rifampicin and clofazimine.The success of MDT clearly indicates that leprosy research can accelerate leprosy control.At this moment, we are in the era of leprosy elimination.The tasks we face are far more difficult than those we have faced before.Obviously, new concepts and tools that are both more efficient and operationally less demanding are required for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, and management of leprosy reactions and nerve damage.These new concepts and tools will greatly facilitate the elimination process, and make the efforts toward elimination more sustainable.Because new concepts and tools will be generated only by research activities, whether the research is operational or laboratory-based, leprosy research must be an important component of the Global Alliance, a partnership of the Wodd Health Organization, the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP), the Nippon Foundation, and the pharmaceutical firm, Novartis.Like many other members of ILEP, the Association Fran�aise Raoul Follereau has a long tradition of providing financial support to research projects related to leprosy.We are particularly keen to work closely with other partners in funding leprosy research.Further to promote leprosy research, we propose the establishment of an Expert Committee on Leprosy Research, within the framework of Global Alliance.The Committee should consist of seven to nine members, with one to three members from each of the four major partners of the Alliance, the number of members being roughly proportional to the support offered leprosy research by each of the partners.The Committee should meet regularly, to identify research priorities, review research proposals, and coordinate and monitor implementation of the research projects.Ideally, the Committee should have at its disposal funds with which to support leprosy research; otherwise, it could only function as a purely advisory body, and find it difficult to influence the setting of priorities and the directing of funds to the most meritorious and most urgent research projects.However, given that several granting agencies, such as IMMYC and THEMYC, already exist, that the US National Institutes of Health, the European Commission, the British Medical Research Council, and a number of ILEP member associations also provide support to research projects related to leprosy; and that to reach consensus among the partners on financial issues is time-consuming, it is premature to
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