The 20th Kellersberger Memorial Lecture, 1994. Leprosy and tuberculosis combined programmes: an uneasy partnership?

One of the purposes of this memorial lecture is to relate progress and difficulties in the field of leprosy to work in other fields. Tuberculosis is a disease closely related to leprosy and in 1982 the Kellersberger lecture was given by Dr. Styblo, someone whose name is synonymous with the development of effective Tuberculosis Control Programme in Africa. His title was "Tuberculosis and its control: lessons to be learned from past experience, and implications for leprosy control programme" (1). Many countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, have adopted the strategy of a combined leprosy and TB control programme. In this lecture then, I will examine more closely the strategy of combining the two programmes. I want to look at some of the problems that may arise and then draw out the ways in which each side of the partnership can contribute to the other, so that the combination can be more effective than either programme could hope to be on its own. This lecture will focus mainly on management issues, which are currently the most important barriers to effective control of both diseases, but the socio-economic aspects of disease, so much a part of Dr. Kellersberger's working life, will also be prominent.