The World Health Organization warned Monday that the battle against the age-old scourge of leprosy is not yet over, with more than 5,000 new cases reported yearly in the Western Pacific, where the disease was declared eliminated in 1991. WHO regional director Shin Young-soo said the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Kiribati are three of 37 countries in the region that have failed to meet the target of lowering cases to less than one per 10,000 people - the health body's definition of leprosy elimination. He cited the example of the Philippines, which was declared largely free of leprosy in 1998 yet still sees some 2,000 new cases recorded yearly. He told reporters that China has around the same number of new cases each year. "This is unfinished business and we need to walk that last mile," Shin was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.
