Partnership for sustainable leprosy control beyond 2005

Partnerships have always played an important role in leprosy control. The World Health Organization (WHO) and national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide a significant supportive function in partnership with national governments. Among the NGOs involved, the members of the Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP), The Nippon Foundation, Novartis and the World Bank have played a prominent role. Partnership can be defined as: ‘Inter-organizational relationships involving activities (beyond that which contracts or authority alone would demand) aimed at achieving shared goals based upon close working relationships’. There are more definitions of partnership but they usually include these common themes: commitment to shared objectives; mutuality, equality and open dialogue; sense of trust and respect between the partners; and reciprocal obligations and accountability. Partnership does not mean that partners should agree on all aspects, but implies that there is a willingness on both sides to ‘give and take’ so as to reach consensus. ILEP as a federation is a good example of a partnership between organizations that share common objectives. For many years, WHO and ILEP shared an outstanding partnership that had been exemplary to other disease control initiatives. Although a difference in opinion on technical issues led to partnership problems at the international level in 2001, WHO and ILEP members continued their fruitful collaboration in most countries at the national level. However, since last year, the constructive collaboration between WHO and ILEP has been fully re-established at the international level. This is a very positive development.