01139nas a2200157   4500000000100000008004100001260006600042653001200108653001300120653001700133100001800150700001000168245007400178300000900252520072000261       1997                            d  bInternational Federation of Anti-Leprosy AssociationsaLondon10aleprosy10aEnglish 10aCase finding1 aCommission IM1 aILEP 00aILEP Technical Bulletin 11 : Detecting hard to reach leprosy patients  a4 p.3 a<p>At the beginning of 1997, about 890,000 leprosy patients were registered for chemotherapy, globally. The World Health Organisation estimates that the true prevalence of patients in need of chemotherapy is about 1,150,000 patients. This estimate was reached through information provided by national programme managers from endemic countries, taking into account registered figures, health service coverage and MDT implementation. This means that there would presently be a gap of about 260,000 undetected patients. This is an approximate figure, since population surveys conducted in different areas often showed that there were two to three times more patients than reported through the registered figures.</p>