In 1940, a number of 54 leprosy institutions could be found in the entire archipelago. Two of these institutions were run by the government (369 beds), 28 were managed by native states (1,050 beds) and 24 by private organizations (3,032 beds).

Nowadays, only a few institutions are kept alive, although Indonesia sees the third highest number of new leprosy cases each year, after India and Brazil. Leprosy continues to be one of the major causes of preventable disability.

The prevalence of Hansen’s disease is the highest in the provinces of Papua, Maluku, North Sulawesi and West Sulawesi.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) data in the 2022 Weekly Epidemiological Record, 10,976 leprosy cases were detected in Indonesia in 2021. The finding was much lower compared to India, which reported 75,394 cases, and Brazil, which registered 18,318 cases.