Chinese centenarian dedicates life to eradicating leprosy

Li Huanying, 100, is an expert on leprosy prevention and control. She has been fighting the disease for over 60 years.

Li graduated from Tongji University School of Medicine and got her master degree in America. She was among the first members of the WHO at its establishment in 1950. She returned to China upon completing her tenure, and started working on leprosy antigens.

With humble medical devices, Li would extract antigens and test them on her own body.

In the 1970s, Li went to Guizhou to find better solutions to leprosy treatment. Combining China's reality with advanced foreign methods, Li pioneered 24-month joint chemotherapy. The method was proved 100% effective, with low side effects and low recurrence rate.

Thanks to Li's commitment, the number of China's leprosy patients was reduced to some 3,000 from over 500,000 in 1949.

Leprosy has basically been eliminated in most provinces. She often hugs leprosy patients to challenge prejudice.

Although 100 years old, Li still works on the frontline of leprosy prevention and control. She hopes to fully eliminate leprosy cases at an early date.