Leprosy control activities in Yemen are reviewed historically and up to the present time. Since 1983 the World Health Organization's multidrug therapy has been used in the National Leprosy Control Programme. Current activities are carried out in 63 leprosy clinics distributed all over the country and staffed by trained primary health care workers and medical assistants. In Yemen leprosy prevalence has declined from 1400 per 10,000 population in 1990 to 647 in 1997. Over the same period, new case detection rates per 10,000 population increased from 185 to 517. A backlog of leprosy cases continues to transmit the disease in Yemen.