Jan 30: Yohei Sasakawa’s S-ILF to create awareness on leprosy through virtual session

NEW DELHI: Known worldwide for his relentless fight against leprosy and the stigma against it, Yohei Sasakawa – the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy would organise a special virtual awareness session on January 30, Sunday – the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi that is observed as Anti-Leprosy every year Day.

Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation (TNF) had set up a dedicated Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF), a registered Indian Charitable Trust in 2006, for this purpose.

The recipient of the prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize 2018, Sasakawa san dedicated S-ILF to help the people across the country affected by leprosy and working towards their livelihood development, skills development, education, and addressing stigma and discrimination.

The January 30 session is being supported by CII Young Indians. 

Leprosy still affects more than one lakh people every year in our country. Despite being curable, stigma and discrimination against leprosy prevail. Lack of awareness about the disease is an important contributing factor.

As part of building an inclusive and compassionate society, S-ILF has been endeavouring to build awareness and drive sustained action to end leprosy in India and fight the stigma attached to it.

January 30, the martyrdom of Gandhiji is observed as Anti-Leprosy every year Day. On this significant day, Sasakawa-India Leprosy Foundation (S-ILF) is organising a virtual session on demystifying the disease to strive towards building sensitization and awareness around the myths and misconceptions associated with the cause of the oldest disease known to mankind-Leprosy.

CII Young Indians have been at the forefront in leading positive change through influence and inclusiveness, contributing to the larger agenda of building responsible and compassionate youth leaders. To create an empowered country, it is imperative that every citizen gets access to improving their quality of life through access to education and livelihood.

The parent organisation Nippon Foundation (TNF) established in 1962, is one of the largest private non-profit foundations in the world and focuses on social development and self-sufficiency, by improving public health and education, alleviating poverty, eliminating hunger, and helping the disabled. From the very beginning, it has laid focus on fighting Leprosy.

Those interested in this virtual session can participate by registering at bit.ly/3rlUudO, which will help to raise awareness and positively improve the lives of those affected by this condition.