“Don't Forget Leprosy” Campaign Marks 20th Anniversary as an Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination (1)

At the first meeting of the Global Alliance for the Elimination of Leprosy (GAEL) in New Delhi, India, in 2001, I was appointed as GAEL’s Special Ambassador. Subsequently, in 2004, I became the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination. So, this year marks the 20th anniversary of my appointment as an ambassador for the elimination of the disease also known as Hansen’s disease.

The Sasakawa Leprosy Initiative (SLI) is using the opportunity provided by the anniversary to launch a 10-month awareness campaign called "Don't forget leprosy.” 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 stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.

My quest for a leprosy-free world stems from an unforgettable experience I had in my younger days, accompanying my late father Ryoichi Sasakawa to a leprosy hospital in South Korea in 1976.

Seeing him tour the wards, hugging each patient, encouraging them and telling them to have hope, that’s when I thought that I should take up this work and carry on from my father. It was a gut feeling. Just how big an influence it has been on my life, and how much I have been enriched, is something I am still appreciating.

I have three personal philosophies that I use to guide my actions: 1) the place where problems are happening is also where solutions will be found; 2) taking action to transform society requires a strong and committed spirit that can withstand hardships; and 3) I must keep going until results are obtained.

Based on these philosophies, in my capacity as ambassador, I have traveled to almost 100 countries in order to learn about problems and solutions firsthand. I have met with hundreds of decision-makers, including kings, presidents, prime ministers, ministers of health, and finance ministers as well as people affected by leprosy, whose communities I make a point of visiting.

During the 20 years that I have served in this role, significant progress has been made toward the elimination of leprosy. Thanks to the combined efforts of many stakeholders－including the WHO, national governments, NGOs, people’s organizations, and leprosy specialists－almost every country has achieved elimination of leprosy as a public health problem, reducing prevalence to less than 1 case per 10,000 population.

At the initiative of The Nippon Foundation, the Japanese government proposed a resolution on elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, and in 2010, it was adopted unanimously by the U.N. General Assembly in New York along with principles and guidelines for same. This was a historic achievement for people affected by leprosy and their family members and a culmination of my years-long efforts with the support of other stakeholders to persuade the member countries of the world body to address leprosy not only as a medical issue but also as a human rights issue.

Despite the considerable progress achieved, however, the number of new cases of leprosy reported worldwide has remained almost unchanged for the past 10 years at about 200,000－and now, with the onset of COVID-19, efforts against leprosy have been set back by demands on governments to respond to the pandemic.

With this in mind, the “Don’t forget leprosy” campaign was conceived.

(To be continued)