【Photo Diary】 (1) Visit to Nepal
Published on December 11, 2024
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I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my visit to Nepal from September 17 to 23, 2024, in my capacity as chairman of The Nippon Foundation and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination.
During my first visit to Nepal in 10 years, I met with President Ramchandra Paudel, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Health and Population Minister Pradip Paudel and other government officials and civil society leaders. My purpose was to reinvigorate the country’s efforts against leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, and the stigma and discrimination associated with it. They agreed to hold a national leprosy conference in 2025 to kick off intensified efforts.
I also traveled to Madhesh Province, the most leprosy-endemic area in Nepal. There I met with Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh and visited the Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital and Services Centre and its Self-Help Groups (SHGs) led by persons affected by leprosy to see firsthand the state of the federal democratic republic’s fight against leprosy.
[September 17, Kathmandu, Nepal]
due to the pandemic. 
Speaking to about 500 NMA members, I noted with deep appreciation the gesture by famed mountaineer Mingma Gyabu Sherpa, an executive board member of the association, who held up a “Don’t Forget Leprosy” banner at the top of Mt. Everest when he scaled the world’s highest peak in May 2022. I expressed my gratitude to the board for agreeing to spread word of the campaign through its international network.
That inspired me, an 85-year-old senior citizen with a Grade 1 disability－I have a pacemaker implanted in my chest－to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2024 to promote the “Don’t Forget Leprosy” message from atop Africa’s highest peak
[September 18, Kathmandu, Nepal]
With Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. Like most of the officials I met in Nepal, he agreed to pose for a photograph with a banner reading "Don't Forget Leprosy," a campaign I launched in 2021 to ensure that leprosy is not overlooked even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In the meeting, the prime minister agreed to our proposal for holding a national leprosy conference sometime in 2025 to aim at a zero-leprosy Nepal by 2030.
Although Nepal declared elimination of leprosy as a public health problem in 2010, new cases are increasing and there are many “hidden” (undetected) cases. I noted that over 2,500 new cases were reported in 2023, making it one of 23 countries on the WHO's priority list for leprosy elimination.
I pledged continued support from The Nippon Foundation to achieve the elimination goal in Nepal in the years to come.
With Health and Population Minister Pradip Paudel with a "Don't Forget Leprosy” banner.
He said his ministry was ready to hold a national leprosy conference next year, affirming its commitment to working to restore the dignity of those affected by leprosy and their communities by 2030.
(To be continued)
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