Background Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) or Mycobacterium lepromatosis (M. lepromatosis). In Europe, most of the leprosy cases are imported. However, occasionally a case is diagnosed in one of the old endemic foci. Leprosy is often not suspected because it is no longer emphasized in the medical curricula. Attention shifted from leprosy to tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus infections in the late 20th century, whereby the WHO leprosy programme was toned down in the conviction that leprosy was all but eliminated. The result of unawareness is a harmful doctor's delay. Material and methods This paper focusses on clinical diagnosis, complications and treatment based on literature and experience. Results It mentions the value of laboratory tests in classification, follow‐up and detection of relapses. It discusses the etiopathology. Conclusion This is a position statement.

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Background The first International Society of Atopic Dermatitis (ISAD) global meeting dedicated to atopic dermatitis (AD) in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) was held in Geneva, Switzerland in April 2019. A total of 30 participants were present at the meeting, including those from 17 SSA countries, representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Foundation for Dermatology (IFD) (a committee of the International League of Dermatological Societies, ILDS http://www.ilds.org), the Fondation pour la Dermatite Atopique, as well as specialists in telemedicine, artificial intelligence and therapeutic patient education (TPE). Results AD is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory skin diseases in SSA. Besides neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) with a dermatological presentation, AD requires closer attention from the WHO and national Departments of Health. Conclusions A roadmap has been defined with top priorities such as access to essential medicines and devices for AD care, in particular emollients, better education of primary healthcare workers for adequate triage (e.g. better educational materials for skin diseases in pigmented skin generally and AD in particular, especially targeted to Africa), involvement of traditional healers and to a certain extent also patient education, bearing in mind the barriers to effective healthcare faced in SSA countries such as travel distances to health facilities, limited resources and the lack of dermatological expertise. In addition, several initiatives concerning AD research in SSA were discussed and should be implemented in close collaboration with the WHO and assessed at follow‐up meetings, in particular, at the next ISAD meeting in Seoul, South Korea and African Society of Dermatology and Venereology (ASDV) meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, both in 2020.

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Linked article: S. Subhadarshani et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2020; 34: e72–e73. https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.15948.