Leprosy is a disease as old as human history.
Its disfiguring effects struck fear in people’s hearts.
Patients were ostracized for lack of an effective cure.
Now a cure exists, and it’s available free of charge.
Diagnosed early and treated promptly, leprosy leaves no trace.
But mistaken beliefs about the disease persist.
They perpetuate social and economic discrimination.
This discrimination causes emotional and psychological pain.
To conquer this age-old stigma, drugs alone are not enough.
All of us must be part of the social healing process.
People affected by leprosy and their families have a right to a normal life.
Denying basic human rights to someone because he or she once had a disease is wrong.
Let us all join hands to eliminate fear, discrimination, and social stigma wherever they exist.
Let the healing begin today.

Signatories for Global Appeal 2009

His Eminence Ammar A. Al-Hakim	Vice President of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
His Eminence Archbishop Istrinsky Arseniy	Vicar of the Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Sant Shri Morari Bapuji	Shri Sitaram Seva Trust India
His Eminence Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan	President, Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, Vatican
His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
The Very Reverend John Robert Hall	Dean of Westminster, United Kingdom
His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan	President Emeritus World Conference of Religions for Peace
The Reverend Dr. Samuel Kobia	General Secretary, World Council of Churches
The Reverend Stavros Kofinas	Coordinator of the European Network of Health Care Chaplaincy Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
His Eminence Archbishop Yukei Matsunaga	President, Japan Buddhist Federation
His Eminence Rabbi Yona Metzger	The Chief Rabbi of Israel
His Eminence Gaudencio Borbon Cardinal Rosales	The Cardinal Archbishop of Manila, the Philippines
Priestess Beatriz Schulthess	President, Indigenous Peoples Ancestral Spiritual Council
His Eminence K.H. Sahal Mahfud	Chairman, Indonesian Council of Ulamas
His Holiness Tep Vong	The Great Buddhist Supreme Patriarch of the Kingdom of Cambodia
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu	Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa
Yohei Sasakawa	Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Japan; WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination