| only 0·12 cases per 10 000
general population.3
We declare that we have no confl icts of interest.
Samad E J Golzari, *Kamyar Ghabili,
Amir Mohammad Bazzazi,
Saeid Aslanabadi
kghabili@gmail.com
Cardiovascular Research Center, Tabriz University of
Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran (SEJG); Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation Research Center, Tabriz
University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran (KG);
Department of Neurosurgery, Urmia University of
Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran (AMB); and Pediatric
Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical
Sciences, Tabriz, Iran (SA)
1 WHO Regional Offi ce for the Eastern
Mediterranean. Leprosy. http://www.emro.
who.int/health-topics/leprosy/ (accessed
Dec 23, 2012).
2 Tabriz Bababaghi Hospital and Sanatorium.
http://www.mftabriz.com/goodjob/bababagi.
aspx (accessed Dec 23, 2012).
3 Azizi MH, Bahadori M. A history of leprosy in
Iran during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Arch Iran Med 2011; 14: 425–30.
World Leprosy Day:
where does Iran stand?
The 60th World Leprosy Day will be
commemorated across the globe
on Jan 27, 2013. Initiated by French
journalist Raoul Follereau (1903–77),
the day mostly aims to raise public
awareness and to reduce discrimination
against people with leprosy and their
families. Although leprosy was offi cially
eliminated more than a decade ago,
the disease has not been completely
eradicated and the scars from the
past linger on. Iran, with an annual
incidence of less than 100 cases, is
among the regions in which strategies
recommended by WHO have been
implemented successfully thanks to the
availability of free multidrug therapy
and leprosy elimination campaigns |