NELRA | Our History

NELRA health worker treating a patient in rural Nepal

1978

Year Established

Our History

Four Decades of
Service Across Nepal

The Nepal Leprosy Relief Association — NELRA — was founded in 1978 by a group of Nepali physicians, social workers, and community leaders who recognised that leprosy was not merely a medical problem but a profound crisis of exclusion. At the time, Nepal had one of the highest leprosy prevalence rates in South Asia, yet patients in hill districts and remote Terai communities had no access to treatment whatsoever.

NELRA's founders established the first dedicated leprosy outpatient clinic in Kathmandu in 1979, followed rapidly by mobile units that reached the Bagmati, Gandaki, and Koshi zones. Working in close partnership with the government of Nepal and the World Health Organization, NELRA became the primary implementing partner for Nepal's national MDT rollout in 1982 — making Nepal one of the first countries in South Asia to offer multidrug therapy at scale.

Through political upheaval, natural disasters including the 2015 earthquake, and the COVID-19 pandemic, NELRA has never suspended its field operations. Today, the association runs seven district offices, two rehabilitation centres, a dedicated children's scholarship programme, and a nationally recognised legal advocacy cell — touching over 62,000 lives across all seven provinces of Nepal.

62,000+

Patients Treated

7 Provinces

National Coverage

46 Years

Uninterrupted Service

480+

Trained Field Workers

Our Most Important Work

Where NELRA Has Made the Deepest Impact

Nepal's MDT Pioneer

NELRA co-led the rollout of Multidrug Therapy across Nepal in 1982 alongside the Ministry of Health. This work reduced Nepal's leprosy prevalence rate from 19.4 per 10,000 population in 1985 to below 1 per 10,000 by 2010 — achieving the WHO elimination threshold for the first time in the country's history.

Earthquake Response, 2015

When the Gorkha earthquake struck in April 2015, leprosy patients in Sindhupalchok, Nuwakot, and Dhading lost not only their homes but their entire treatment supply chains. NELRA deployed emergency teams within 72 hours, delivering 8,400 MDT kits and establishing two temporary rehabilitation shelters serving 340 displaced patients.

Abolishing the Caste Barrier

In the early 1990s, NELRA launched its Dignity Advocacy Programme — a systematic effort to challenge the caste-based exclusion of leprosy-affected individuals from public life. The programme produced Nepal's first legal brief on leprosy discrimination, which was submitted to the National Human Rights Commission in 2003 and influenced amendments to the Public Health Act.

How We Work

Guidelines &
Philosophy

NELRA's work is guided not by charity but by rights. We believe leprosy-affected people are full citizens whose dignity, participation, and leadership must be central to every programme we design and deliver.

"We do not serve communities — we stand with them. The difference matters enormously, because service can end, but solidarity does not."

NELRA Founding Charter, 1978

Guiding Principle 01

Rights-Based Approach

NELRA treats access to leprosy treatment, rehabilitation, and social inclusion not as gifts to be given but as rights to be claimed. Every programme is designed to build the capacity of patients and affected communities to advocate for those rights independently of external support.

Guiding Principle 02

Community-Led Design

No programme is designed by NELRA without the participation of people who have lived experience of leprosy. Our Community Advisory Panels in each of Nepal's seven provinces hold veto power over programme design decisions that affect their communities — a structural commitment, not a consultation gesture.

Guiding Principle 03

Evidence-Driven Practice

Every field intervention is tracked against a defined theory of change with independent monitoring and evaluation. NELRA publishes its full programme data annually, including failures and shortcomings, in accordance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard that NELRA adopted in 2016.

Guiding Principle 04

Whole-Person Care

NELRA's clinical mandate ends only when a patient is economically independent, socially reintegrated, and legally protected. Treating the disease is the beginning of our work, not the end. Our case-management model assigns each patient a single coordinator who remains their point of contact from diagnosis through full rehabilitation.

🤝

Solidarity, Not Charity

We walk alongside. We do not hand down. Patients are partners, not beneficiaries.

🌏

Nepal First

Solutions are designed for Nepal's geography, culture, and political reality — not imported wholesale from elsewhere.

📖

Radical Transparency

We publish what works and what does not. Accountability to communities comes before accountability to donors.

Central Committee Chairpersons

Founding & Historical Members

NELRA was established under the distinguished patronage of Princess Shanti Singh, whose leadership shaped the organisation's character and ambitions for over two decades. She was succeeded by a line of dedicated chairpersons who each advanced the mission.

Founding Chairperson

B.S. 2027 – 2050 23 Years of Service

Princess Shanti Singh

Founding Chairperson · Nepal Leprosy Relief Association

Princess Shanti Singh lent her royal stature and personal conviction to the cause of leprosy relief at a time when the disease carried the deepest social stigma in Nepali society. Her decision to publicly associate with NELRA at its founding in B.S. 2027 was itself a powerful act — signalling to the country that leprosy-affected people deserved care, not condemnation.

During her 23-year tenure as Chairperson, she oversaw NELRA's transformation from a small Kathmandu-based organisation into a nationally recognised institution. She personally campaigned for the removal of discriminatory practices in public life, engaged international partners to fund the MDT rollout, and mentored the generation of leaders who succeeded her.

NELRA Founder Royal Patronage MDT Champion Anti-Stigma Advocate International Liaison

Succession of Chairpersons · B.S. 2051 – Present

Six leaders have carried forward the responsibility of the Chairpersonship since Princess Shanti Singh's tenure, each serving NELRA at a distinct chapter in Nepal's leprosy relief story.

B.S. 2051 – 2054

Dr. Gaurishankar Lal Das

2nd Chairperson

Served from B.S. 2051 to 2054 — a period of consolidation following Princess Shanti Singh's foundational tenure. Led NELRA through early partnerships with WHO Nepal and strengthened the organisation's MDT distribution network in hill districts.

3 Years of Service

B.S. 2055 – 2062

Pashupati Gauri

3rd Chairperson

The longest-serving among the successors, Pashupati Gauri led NELRA through seven years of significant expansion — including the launch of mobile medical units reaching Terai districts and the organisation's first formal engagement with the National Human Rights Commission on discrimination cases.

7 Years of Service

B.S. 2063 – 2066

Laxmi Das Manandhar

4th Chairperson

Served during a pivotal period as Nepal worked toward the WHO leprosy elimination threshold. Under his guidance NELRA deepened its rehabilitation programmes and launched early livelihood training initiatives for patients completing MDT, recognising that recovery required economic reintegration alongside clinical cure.

3 Years of Service

B.S. 2069 – 2081

Surya Prasad Shrestha

5th Chairperson

The second-longest serving Chairperson after Princess Shanti Singh, Surya Prasad Shrestha steered NELRA through 12 years encompassing Nepal's achievement of WHO elimination status in B.S. 2067, the Gorkha earthquake response of B.S. 2072, and the COVID-19 pandemic that began in B.S. 2076 — maintaining uninterrupted services throughout all three crises.

12 Years of Service

B.S. 2081

Dr. Khagendra Bahadur Shrestha

6th Chairperson

Served briefly in B.S. 2081 during a transitional period. As a physician with direct experience in leprosy care, Dr. Khagendra Bahadur Shrestha brought clinical authority to the Chairpersonship and initiated the consultation process that produced NELRA's current Vision 2030 strategic roadmap before passing the role to his successor.

Transitional Tenure · B.S. 2081

Current

B.S. 2081 – Present

Dr. Ram Kumar Shrestha

7th Chairperson · Serving Now

Currently serving as Chairperson, Dr. Ram Kumar Shrestha is leading NELRA into the Vision 2030 era. His tenure has seen the formal launch of NELRA's national elimination partnership with all seven provincial governments, the expansion of the Legal Aid Cell, and the commencement of the AIIMS longitudinal research study. He brings a strong background in public health policy and community medicine to the role.

Currently Serving

Chairpersons

54+

Years of Leadership

B.S. 2027 – Present

Yrs — Longest Tenure

Princess Shanti Singh

2027

B.S. Founded

Under Royal Patronage

Key Milestones

NELRA Through the Decades

Scroll to explore the full timeline

Milestone

Major Milestone

1978

Founded

NELRA Established

Founded in Kathmandu by Dr. Laxmi Prasad Shrestha and six colleagues. First office opened in New Baneshwor.

1979

Clinical

First Outpatient Clinic

Nepal's first dedicated leprosy outpatient clinic opened in Kathmandu, seeing 312 patients in its first year.

1982

National

MDT Rollout Partner

Co-leads Nepal's national Multidrug Therapy rollout with the Ministry of Health and WHO — one of Asia's first.

1986

Outreach

Mobile Units to Terai

First mobile medical units deployed to Terai districts — Saptari, Siraha, and Mahottari — reaching previously inaccessible populations.

1991

Advocacy

Dignity Advocacy Programme

Launches Nepal's first structured programme challenging caste-based exclusion of leprosy patients from public life.

1999

Recognition

Prime Minister's Award

Receives the Prime Minister's National Award for Public Health — Nepal's highest civilian recognition in health services.

2003

Legal

NHRC Legal Brief

Submits landmark discrimination brief to the National Human Rights Commission, directly influencing Public Health Act amendments.

2010

WHO Target

Elimination Achieved

Nepal reaches WHO leprosy elimination threshold — below 1 per 10,000 — for the first time. NELRA central to this achievement.

2015

Crisis

Earthquake Response

Deploys emergency teams within 72 hours of Gorkha earthquake. 8,400 MDT kits delivered. 340 patients sheltered. Zero treatment interruptions.

2018

Education

Scholarship Fund

Launches children's scholarship programme supporting 340 students from leprosy-affected families in 5 provinces.

2021

Pandemic

COVID-19 Resilience

Pivots all operations to home delivery during lockdown. All 62,000 active patients maintained on treatment throughout the pandemic.

2024

Present

National Strategy 2030

Launches Vision 2030 — a partnership with all 7 province governments and WHO Nepal targeting zero new Grade-2 leprosy disability in Nepal.

Rooted in Nepal,
Built on Compassion

Four Decades of
Service Across Nepal