Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 on the diagnoses of Hansen's disease in Brazil

INTRODUCTIONCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has limited the access of patients with Hansen's disease (HD) to care due to changes in routine health services. METHODSTo ascertain this, we compared the number of HD cases diagnosed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTSThe decrease in HD cases in Brazil reached 18,223 (-48.4%), corresponding to an average reduction of 1,518 cases per month during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONTherefore, effective measures should be implemented to minimize the damage and the consequent negative health impact of COVID-19 on the care of HD patients.