Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation 16th Anniversary Ceremony

Video Message

Chairman Tarun Das, Trustees, Chief Executive Officer Vivek Lal, all at S-ILF. I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to you on S-ILF’s 16th anniversary. As a Japanese citizen, I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the people of India for their condolences following the tragic death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Over the past three years, because of the COVID pandemic, it has been difficult for us to carry out our activities as we would have wished. Like me, I am sure you have felt frustrated. As one who has been engaged in the fight against leprosy for more than 40 years, based on my belief that problems and solutions are found in the field, it was regretful that I could not make on-site visits due to the pandemic.

However, I recently visited India for the first time in three years and resumed my activities in earnest. I was delighted to visit S-ILF’s offices and engage in productive discussions with CEO Lal and other members of staff on the progress of our activities and what comes next. I also visited Ranchi and Hyderabad, met with people affected by leprosy and SAHIYA community health workers, and attended the Global Forum of People’s Organizations on Hansen’s Disease as well as the International Leprosy Congress. I am pleased to see that S-ILF is once again working with APAL to implement activities in the field, and I respect the excellent results achieved under the strong leadership of Chairman Das.

My dream is to realize a society where persons affected by leprosy can live without begging. To that end, the activities you are engaged in—educational support, vocational training and awareness-raising—are important essential tasks. Let us continue to work together for a world free of leprosy. Thank you very much.

*This video message is available at The Nippon Foundation YouTube.