On March 27, the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation opened its online doors for the first time in its 30-year history. The site, which is fully bilingual, promises to be an important resource for such health issues as leprosy and parasitic disease control.

The foundation, a sister organization of The Nippon Foundation, has been extremely active since 1974 in leprosy control and the fight against the stigma involved with this disease, serving as one of the major players in the successful global push toward elimination.

However, its list of achievements has not been limited to this field alone. Highlights from its three decades of work include:

- Since 1986, the foundation has brought 100 doctors per year from China, to study at Japanese medical universities, in an effort to help that country improve its medical services.

- Following the meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, from 1991 to 2001 the foundation conducted a ten-year survey of the 200,000 children living in that area, also training doctors to continue the work there. Though the project ended some years ago, the results, both in peace of mind for the inhabitants, and in vital research data collected, continue to have a major impact.

-Its work in parasitic disease control has shown remarkably successful results, setting the bar for such efforts worldwide. In particular, it has put a great deal of effort into helping developing countries such as the Philippines and Cambodia as they battle diseases such as schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis.

Details about these and other projects can be found at the foundation's new website--one click which is bound to prove both interesting and informative. Visitors can reach the site via the link below.