As part of the World Health Organization's Global Alliance for Leprosy Elimination initiative to wipe out leprosy, pharmaceutical giant Novartis International AG will donate the medication needed to cure all leprosy cases detected over the next six years.

The drugs, worth an estimated $30 million, will be only one part of Novartis' contribution to fight leprosy. The company reports that it is planning to donate additional resources as well.

The Global Alliance, started by WHO, includes the governments of countries where leprosy is endemic, along with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It plans to detect and cure an estimated 2.5 to 2.8 million victims of leprosy around the world by 2005.

Over the past 15 years, an estimated 10 million people have been cured of leprosy, and the disease has been eliminated from 98 countries where it was common, Novartis reports. Elimination of the disease is defined as reducing leprosy to less than one case per 10,000 people.

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