Nery JS, Ramond A, Pescarini JM, et al. - Through a population-based linkage study, researchers examined socioeconomic markers of leprosy (also known as Hansen disease, is a chronic infectious disease of the peripheral nervous system, skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract) risk in Brazil in order to inform targeted approaches for disease elimination. Raised levels of deprivation were related to an elevated risk of leprosy in Brazil in an analysis of 23,899,942 individuals including 18,518 patients with leprosy. In children younger than 15 years and across disease subtypes, directions of influence were constant. Individuals who lived in regions with the greatest poverty in the country (central-west, north, and northeast regions) had a risk of leprosy incidence five-to-eight folds higher in comparison with other individuals. Reduced levels of income and education and factors highlighting unfavorable living conditions were correlated with an up to two-times increase in leprosy incidence. Hence, the most deprived individuals had the biggest risk of leprosy within the poorest half of the Brazilian population. Policies focusing on early discovery and treatment in the poorest populations could add substantially to global disease control.