National Leprosy Conference in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Health Minister Zahid Maleque, Standing Committee Chairman Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Health Secretary Ashadul Islam, Ambassador of Japan Naoki Ito, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to see people from many different sectors participating in this conference to pursue action against leprosy in Bangladesh.

This conference came about after I called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in February and received her support. It is very reassuring—and pleasing—to receive such strong commitment from the country’s leader.

Over the past forty years I have traveled the world in my activities to disseminate the correct information about leprosy.

Today, leprosy is curable with effective medicine, which is available for free, and early diagnosis and prompt treatment can prevent physical impairment.

It is of utmost importance to detect and treat leprosy early in children in order never to repeat the tragedy that suffering from leprosy has brought upon the lives of those affected by the disease.

However, even though it is easily curable, there are many who think that leprosy is a disease to be ashamed of. Oftentimes, this results in making patients themselves reluctant to go to clinics and hospitals in fear of being diagnosed leprosy.

Furthermore, in the early stage of the disease, there are hardly any noticeable symptoms except for discolored skin patches. This is one of the reasons that delay the diagnosis of patients.

In order that these early symptoms are not overlooked, I use the media all over the world and I personally broadcast through radio and television to always check for these skin patches in their homes.

In addition, there are prejudice and discrimination associated with leprosy which I consider as a disease that society is affected by and which we have to contend with.

Because of leprosy, there are many people who are forced to leave their families, who cannot go to school nor get a job. Persons affected by leprosy are labeled as “former patients” even after they are cured and continue to suffer from discrimination.

I have met many people suffering from such discrimination around the world. It is very clear that leprosy is not just a medical issue, but also an issue of human rights.

So I decided to take this matter to the United Nations. In 2003, I visited the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the first time to have leprosy be put on the agenda of human rights. But to my disappointment and surprise, leprosy had never once been considered as a human rights issue.

On that first visit, we had the opportunity to give a presentation to the staff of the High Commissioner’s office. However, only five people attended. This showed the low level of interest in the issue at the time.

But I was not a man to give up. As a result of repeated annual appeal for seven years at the general assembly of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, finally the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members in December 2010.

Over the years of our work against leprosy and its associated stigma and discrimination, persons affected by leprosy around the world have joined us to become our strong partners.

With us today there are persons affected by leprosy who have traveled long distances to be here. I thank you for coming here from all over Bangladesh. You are motivated by a desire to realize a world without leprosy so that the next generation does not have to experience the hardships that you did. I look forward to participating at the nationwide meeting of persons affected by leprosy that will take place for the first time in Bangladesh tomorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen. Due to the government placing high priorities on measures against leprosy, the national prevalence of leprosy has been declining here in Bangladesh in recent years. Yet it is an undeniable reality that many new cases are still discovered nationwide today. Therefore, I am greatly encouraged by your further activities against leprosy.

Through the active discussions during this conference, I urge everyone to work with each other to accelerate the actions needed to achieve Zero Leprosy in Bangladesh by 2030. Both The Nippon Foundation and Sasakawa Health Foundation are ready to work with you.

I conclude by wishing you a successful conference and I hope that the outcome will serve as a model for other countries.

Thank you very much.