In the last decade many leprologists around the world have been advocating the development and testing of new antimicrobial treatments for leprosy but limited new clinical data have emerged. 1,2Global guidelines have been published in which the World Health Organization (WHO) now recommends rifampicin, dapsone and clofazimine for all individuals diagnosed with leprosy. 3e propose that a large randomised controlled trial of fixed duration (12 doses) antimicrobial therapy for Mycobacterium leprae infection, with monthly rifampicin 600 mg,