【Photo Diary】 (2) Visit to Nepal

Published on December 11, 2024
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.

[September 19, Kathmandu, Nepal]


Interviewed by state-run Nepal Television Corporation (NTV)
Interviewed by state-run Nepal Television Corporation (NTV). During the interview, I noted that although Nepal declared elimination of leprosy as a public health problem in 2010, new cases are increasing and there are many hidden cases after the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the country’s case finding and treatment efforts.
I told viewers that in my meetings with Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and with Health and Population Minister Pradip Paudel the previous day, I had proposed that Nepal hold a national leprosy conference with the aim of eliminating the disease from the country, and both had agreed.


With NTV’s famed Senior News Editor Shivanee Thapa Basnyat. I said the media have a vital role to play in sending the message that leprosy is curable and that discrimination against persons affected by the disease has no place.
With NTV’s famed Senior News Editor Shivanee Thapa Basnyat. I said the media have a vital role to play in sending the message that leprosy is curable and that discrimination against persons affected by the disease has no place.


From left, President Nima Nuru Sherpa of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), the author, and former NMA President Santa Bir Lama
From left, President Nima Nuru Sherpa of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), the author, and former NMA President Santa Bir Lama when we had lunch at the NMA headquarters.


 
Chatting with a leprosy-affected woman at Anandaban Hospital, the largest hospital in Nepal specializing in leprosy treatment.
Chatting with a leprosy-affected woman at Anandaban Hospital, the largest hospital in Nepal specializing in leprosy treatment. Opened in 1957, it now serves around 8,000 people affected by leprosy, plus general patients, every year. In 2023, 2,522 people were diagnosed with leprosy in Nepal, mainly in the south of the country.
 


 
 
 


Visiting the Khokana leprosy colony, where around 350 people continue to live. It was first established as a place to quarantine people with the disease.
Visiting the Khokana leprosy colony, where around 350 people continue to live. It was first established as a place to quarantine people with the disease.
 


“I am so glad to see you again after 10 years,” I told about 100 colony residents.
“I am so glad to see you again after 10 years,” I told about 100 colony residents.

[September 20, Kathmandu and Janakpur, Nepal]
With Executive Director Krishna Man Pradhan of the Nepal Law Association (NLA) (left) and Program Director Mohan Lal Acharya (center).
With Executive Director Krishna Man Pradhan of the Nepal Law Association (NLA) (left) and Program Director Mohan Lal Acharya (center). We agreed on the need to abolish the country’s nearly 30 laws that discriminate against those affected by leprosy. Mr. Krishna said he is committed to overcoming the challenges in the way of this by mobilizing the media and the national, provincial and local governments.


Photo of Yohei Sasakawa.
Speaking to some 50 members of three advocacy organizations consisting mainly of persons affected by leprosy and their family members－IDEA Nepal, READ Nepal and the National Leprosy Affected Welfare Association (LAA).
Noting that there are discriminatory laws against those affected by leprosy in Nepal, I said: “Let’s fight together to restore your basic rights.”


Yohei Sasakawa was welcomed with a performance of the Peacock Dance
Welcomed with a performance of the Peacock Dance, a traditional dance of the Tharu culture of the Terai region in southern Nepal. The dance performance symbolizes good luck, happiness, beauty and honesty.
 
From left, President Basu Dev Yadav of READ Nepal, the author, President Wepal Deepak Tiwari of LAWA, and President Dinesh Basnet of IDEA Nepal.
From left, President Basu Dev Yadav of READ Nepal, the author, President Wepal Deepak Tiwari of LAWA, and President Dinesh Basnet of IDEA Nepal.

 
 
Yohei Sasakawa with more than 30 members of the three organizations.
With more than 30 members of the three organizations. 
Yohei Sasakawa with Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh of the province.
Flying from Kathmandu to Janakpur, the capital of Madhesh Province, I met with Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh of the province.
He said that Madhesh Province contains seven of Nepal’s 14 high leprosy endemic districts with the most cases found in the Terai region bordering India. He also expressed his appreciation for The Nippon Foundation’s support for Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital and Services Centre, the country’s largest leprosy hospital.
I praised Madhesh Province’s campaign aimed at early diagnosis and treatment of leprosy, expressing my hope that it would a model for other parts of the country.

 

(To be continued)
 
 
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【Photo Diary】 (1) Visit to Nepal

December 11, 2024
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 governme

【Photo Diary】 (3) Visit to Nepal

December 11, 2024
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. [September 21, Janakpur, Nepal] At Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital and Services Centre, one of the world’s busiest leprosy hospitals with 400 or more outpatient visits each day and near