Leprosy control: the rationale of integration.

After considering the situation and the perspectives of integration and the drawbacks that a vertical approach can represent for leprosy control, the author proposes the framework of control programmes as a systemic model for comprehensive health care. The structure that health services in developing countries are adopting in order to implement PHC allows for an horizontal integration of specific activities; conversely, activities which have already proved their value for leprosy control can easily enlarge their scope and include other prevalent conditions. Integration leads to an improvement in patients' and health workers' attitudes; provided that the necessary supervision is guaranteed, integration is feasible and warrants more effective patients' care and a better exploitation of resources in order to reduce the specific risk in the community.