Kellersberger Memorial Lecture 1998: Nerve Damage in Leprosy: a problem for patients, doctors and scientists.

There are interesting challenges in leprosy right now. The last fifteen years have seen the world-wide implementation of multidrug therapy with tangible benefits for patients and doctors. Paradoxically this success has revealed how much we still need to understand about leprosy nerve damage. For patients it is imperative that nerve damage is detected at an early stage when damage is still reversible. They need effective education to prevent the development of disability and to minimise the social and economic effects of nerve damage. For doctors and paramedical workers nerve damage needs effective treatment. We need to use current treatments effectively and also develop new treatments. This lecture looks critically at the pathology, detection and treatment of nerve damage, reviewing our present knowledge and looking to future developments.