【Photo Diary】 (1) Visit to Norway to Mark 150 Years Since Discovery of Leprosy Bacillus

Published on August 1, 2023

During my stay in Norway’s second largest city, I attended a two-day international conference to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the discovery of Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, by the Norwegian Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen in 1873.

Organized by the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen's Disease) Initiative (SLI) and the University of Bergen, “The Bergen International Conference on Hansen’s Disease:150 Years Since the Discovery of the Leprosy Bacillus” brought together over 200 stakeholders from around the world, including senior government officials, medical, human rights and historical preservation experts as well as researchers, NGOs and organizations of persons affected by the disease.

SLI is a strategic alliance between the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, The Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Health Foundation for achieving a world without leprosy and the stigma and discrimination it causes

[June 20, Bergen, Norway]

From left, Professor Harry Solvang, a retired professor of the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen, who started the Japanese language program there; Mr. Tatsuya Tanami, special adviser to The Nippon Foundation; Mrs. Marie Tsujita Stephenson, Program Manager, Japanese Studies, Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation; Dr. Misuzu Shimotori, Associate Professor, the university’s Japanese/Sasakawa Lecture; the author; and Professor Dr. Benedicte Mosby Ingens, Teaching Professor, Department of Foreign Languages.
The University of Bergen is one of the nine Nordic universities that The Nippon Foundation and the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation have supported under a grant program launched in 2018, designed to support the development of contemporary Japanese studies in five Scandinavian countries－Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

A reception hosted by Mayor of Bergen Linn Kristin Engø at King Haakon’s Hall, a 13th century medieval stone hall located inside Bergenhus Fortress in the city, for the participants in the 150th anniversary conference.

[June 21, Bergen, Norway]

Being interviewed for radio by Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), Norway’s state-owned public broadcasting company, on the significance of the 1873 discovery of the leprosy bacillus by Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen as well as on how I began my life’s work to eliminate leprosy and the associated stigma and discrimination.

Giving a keynote speech at the outset of the two-day conference in Grieg Hall in Bergen, the city where *Mycobacterium leprae*, the causative agent of leprosy, was identified by the Norwegian Dr. Gerhard Armauer Hansen in 1873.

Statement by the organizers－Professor Emmet McCormack (center) of the University of Bergen with Rector Margareth Hagen (left) and the author.

The participants pose for a commemorative photo.

With Ms. Ingvild Kjerkol (center), Norwegian Minister of Health and Care Services, and Mr. Abbi Patrix (right), great grandson of Dr. Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen.

(To be continued)

Conference in Norway Marks 150 Years Since Discovery of the Leprosy Bacillus by Dr. Hansen (2)

July 20, 2023

Participants in the international conference to mark 150 years since Dr. Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen’s discovery of the leprosy bacillus pose for a commemorative photo in Grieg Hall, Bergen, Norway, on June 21, 2023. In a video message that WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus contributed to the international conference in Bergen, Norway, on June 21-22, 2023 marking the 150th anni

【Photo Diary】 (2) Visit to Norway to Mark 150 Years Since Discovery of Leprosy Bacillus

August 3, 2023

I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my visit to Bergen, Norway, from June 19 to 24, 2023, in my capacity as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chairman of The Nippon Foundation.During my stay in Norway’s second largest city, I attended a two-day international conference to celebrate the 150th anniversary of discovery of Mycobacterium leprae, the cau