Leprosy in the Western Pacific Region
The development of multidrug therapy (MDT) for the treatment of leprosy in the early 1980s was the crucial step towards control of the disease. In the Western Pacific Region, MDT implementation began in 1985, with regionwide coverage of registered cases by 1988.
The introduction of MDT treatment had an immediate impact on national leprosy programmes. Over the last 10 years, the prevalence of leprosy patients (number of patients registered for treatment on the last day of the year) has consistently dropped in the Western Pacific Region: In 1988, 215 000 patientswere registered for treatment. In 1998, this had decreased to 19 800. The most substantial decrease occurred between 1988 and 1991 when MDT coverage increased from 10% to 70% in the Region. The regional prevalence rate fell from 1.49/10 000 in1988 to 0.12/10 000 in 1998. The decrease in the prevalence around the world was so noticeable that the target of leprosy elimination, defined as less than one case per 10 000 population, became attainable. In 1991, the Forty-fourth World Health Assembly adopted a resolution based on this concept and targeted the year 2000 for the global elimination of the disease. In 1991, nine years before the global target, leprosy elimination was achieved in the Western Pacific Region. By 1995, 21 countries and areas in the Region had reached the elimination level and by 2003, only two countries, Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands, have not yet reached elimination.
WHO's Western Pacific Region 
comprises of 37 countries and areas with a population of approximately 1 653 million. China is the largest country in the Region, representing 76% of the regional population, while thirty of the smallest Pacific Island countries contribute only 3% and the remaining 6 countries comprise 21% of the Region's population.