Interventions to reduce leprosy related stigma: A systematic review

Abstract

Stigmatisation is a major issue faced by those affected by leprosy globally. Reducing stigmatisation encourages care seeking behaviour to occur earlier and can help reduce harm and spread of leprosy. This systematic literature review aimed to summarise what effective stigma reducing interventions exist for leprosy, and as a secondary question explore what evidence exists regarding their cost. A systematic literature review was conducted. Three databases–PubMed, Embase and Web of science–were searched using the search terms “leprosy”, “interven*”, “reduc*”, and “stigma*”.Seventeen publications were eligible for inclusion in the review. The current manuscript identified interventions under 6 main categories (i) Information, education, and communication (IEC) (ii) community led projects, (iii) Socioeconomic rehabilitation, (iv) mixed interventions, (v) integration of leprosy within the health system and (vi) Cosmetic or surgical care. Specific evidence regarding cost was only provided by one out of the seventeen papers. Multiple interventions were shown to successfully reduce leprosy related stigma, however, information on their cost is not readily available. The evidence uncovered by this review is restricted to three Asian countries; Nepal, India and Indonesia. To ensure the success of stigma reduction in leprosy interventions worldwide these interventions need to be tried in other leprosy endemic areas to test their effectiveness across contextual and cultural scenarios.