|
|
|
|
| About Us |
|
Instituted in November, 2006 in Delhi, as an independent Indian
Charitable Trust, Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (SILF) is the
brainchild of Mr Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation. Mr
Sasakawa who is now 68 years old, has, like his father before him,
devoted all his professional life fighting the scourge of leprosy not
only in Japan but all over the world. His foundation has worked with the
WHO and with national governments in developing the cure for leprosy and
ensuring the free availability of drugs to the remotest corners of the
world. This effort has yielded satisfying results as more and more
countries are now reaching elimination levels, paving the way for
eventual eradication of this centuries old disease from the face of the
earth.
India too has made strides in the field of detection and
treatment of leprosy and today has achieved the elimination rate of less
than one new case per 10,000 population at the national level. While
this is no mean achievement much more remains to be done.
Continued efforts in the medical field are no doubt required, but as Mr
Sasakawa is fond of saying, medical rehabilitation is only one wheel of
the bicycle. The other wheel is that of social and economic
rehabilitation; only when the two work together, will it ensure the
eradication of the disease in the true sense - where not only the
disease is cured but also does not carry any stigma that has plagued
those affected since biblical times and beyond.
Mr Sasakawa has been appointed the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy
for the second term and has in this capacity launched two global appeals
for the recognition of the rights of the leprosy affected and against
discrimination of leprosy affected people. Though science has now shown
that leprosy is neither hereditary nor contagious; it is also curable
and among the least infectious, yet the stigma against the disease, the
narrow mindset and ignorance persists in society and needs to be fought
consciously and in a sustained manner.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
