PREFACE

Time flies – it has been 12 years already since the National Center for Leprosy Control of China CDC (NCLC) was set up. On the prosperous occasion of implementing reform and open-door policies and building a comfortably-off society in China, we celebrate the one of the most important moments in history of leprosy control - the 12th Anniversary of the NCLC.

In the past 12 years, under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), with the supports of national and international non-government organizations (NGOs) as well as the great efforts from all of the staff at the NCLC and the colleagues at the partner institutions, a great achievement has been made nationwide. While the number of active cases with leprosy, and the incidence and prevalence of the disease continuously decrease, the life-quality of leprosy patients has been remarkably improved and the endemic areas have been minished. Fortunately, although leprosy epidemic has been significantly controlled, the governments at central and local levels continuously pay their attention to leprosy control. Under the new structure of disease control and prevention institutions, the roles and functions of the NCLC have been further mobilized and played and the capacity on leprosy control at provincial level has been further strengthened to ensure making a step forward in leprosy control. On the occasion of the 12th Anniversary of the NCLC, we would like to express our warmly greetings and thanks to the previous generations of leprosy workers for their wonderful contribution to the development of NCLC. We would also gratefully thank all the relevant leaders of the MOH, the China CDC and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) who provided any supports to the NCLC. We also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of our cooperators and colleagues from the national and international NGOs for their kind supports.

For celebration of the 12th anniversary of NCLC, we edit this special album.The album presents some of the important events on government supports and the activities which were carried out by the NCLC in the recent 12 years for better understanding of NCLC. We hope that this album can bring you a brief overview of NCLC for your providing continuous supports to leprosy patients, encouraging further cooperation in leprosy control and working towards a world without leprosy.

We would like to express our appreciations to the leaders, experts and other staff for their supports and contributions to completion of this album.

National Center for Leprosy Control, China CDC (NCLC)