The Dutch Postcode Lottery, working in conjunction with Leprosy organisations NLR and NLR India, has kicked off a new project “Stop the Transmission of Leprosy!”. The health study is part of a multi-country, multi-partner collaborative research programme in which the first dose of a new preventive treatment has been given to close contacts of people affected by leprosy in two study districts, Chandauli and Fatehpur.
The Stop the Transmission of Leprosy! Project aims to reach a total of around 800,000+ contacts of persons already diagnosed with leprosy in India, Indonesia and Brazil. Of all new leprosy patients, 80% occur in these three countries together.
The project is funded by the Dutch Postcode Lottery through its Dream Fund. Duane Hinders, Programme Manager NLR, emphasized the importance of the funding, saying: “We are fighting an age-old infectious disease in high-endemic regions in the middle of this COVID-19 pandemic, which is also very much present in the districts we operate in. It is critical to take advantage of the heightened awareness of public health among persons in these communities to reduce both conditions.”
The lottery’s funding will be used to create a package of innovative tools and best practices. Among them is an enhanced preventive medication called PEP++. The medication will be administered to a random sample of close contacts in multiple doses. These people are more likely to harbour a higher number of leprosy bacilli than the general population or may be infected without any visible symptoms yet.
News of the leprosy programme follows the recent announcement that the Dutch Postcode Lottery has donated an extra €4m to the Red Cross to help battle the COVID crisis. Margriet Schreuders, Head of Charities at the lottery, said: “The Postcode Lottery has been supporting the Red Cross for years in its help to people in need. That need is now extreme. The Corona pandemic is unprecedented in terms of public health, but also humanitarian.
“We are happy to contribute with an extra donation to help people in an emergency to get through this difficult period. We are very grateful that we can do this thanks to our loyal participants.”