A NEW ATLAS OF LEPROSY
Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
THE ATLAS OF LEPROSY was first published in English in 1981 and revised in 1983. In response to widespread and continuing demand, it was reprinted on 10 occasions between 1984 and 1997, with distribution to virtually all leprosy-endemic countries worldwide. Chinese, Spanish, French and Arabic translations were published in 1986; Portuguese and Indonesian in 1990. In total 38,000 copies of the English edition have been printed and an additional 23,000 copies in the translations.
The original aim was to provide high quality colour pictures as an aid to recognition and diagnosis. This NEW ATLAS OF LEPROSY maintains this objective, whilst incorporating some changes in content and format. The original Atlas contained a section on histopathology of leprosy, which has now been removed. Almost all of the photographs, originally from the Philippines, have now been replaced with patients from India and South East Asia, since about 75% of the remaining world problem of leprosy is found in those areas.
In the face of diminishing prevalence in most parts of the world, opportunities to see leprosy patients and acquire clinical skills, including observation, will diminish. With the inevitable change from specialized leprosy programmes to integration with general health services, it will become more important to supply peripheral health care workers with appropriate information, including written and illustrated material on the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy.
It is hoped that this NEW ATLAS OF LEPROSY will contribute not only to the Strategic Plan, 2000-2005 for the Final Push towards the Elimination of Leprosy, recently publishes by the World Health Organization (CDS/CPE/CEE/2000.1), but also to our continued efforts, for many years beyond the year 2005, until we reach A WORLD WITHOUT LEPROSY.
