Excellency, Mr Yohei Sasakawa, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, dear participants, colleagues and friends,
It is a privilege to speak with you at the first of several webinars celebrating Mr Sasakawa’s 20-year role as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination.
My congratulations, Mr Sasakawa. Over the course of your Ambassadorship, you have been a tireless advocate of global, national and local action to prevent, detect and treat leprosy, and to secure the rights and dignity of leprosy-affected communities across the world.
WHO is highly appreciative of your efforts, as I am personally. Thank you.
In discharging your duties, you have visited more countries than most of us. You have met with heads of state and governments, kings and presidents, ministers of health and other health officials.
And just as importantly, you have travelled to remote, hard-to-reach and sometimes dangerous areas to visit affected communities and their leaders, and to inspire the health workers on whom they rely.
I cannot emphasize enough: This type of engagement is really quite unique.
Leprosy must not be forgotten.
Last year, the world witnessed a significant decline in leprosy case detection, with several high-burden countries reporting 30–50% fewer cases compared with 2019.
This means that many more cases remain undetected, hidden in the community. Unless actively sought out, such cases may go untreated, risking further transmission, and with it, the potential reversal of decades of progress.
And let us be clear: COVID-19 will be with us for some time. It is not enough to maintain minimal leprosy services. Rather, such services must be restarted or expanded, with a focus on intensifying outreach activities to identify cases and bring treatment to all who need it.
I commend the tremendous efforts of all involved in restoring the provision of multi-drug therapy, as well as access to other essential medicines, which continue to be shipped to leprosy-endemic countries.
And I appreciate the immense contributions that leprosy workers have made to the overall pandemic response, of which they can be justly proud.
As together we gear up globally to achieve zero leprosy infection and disease, zero disability, and zero leprosy-related stigma and discrimination, my message to you is one of opportunity.
Throughout the pandemic response, new technologies such as telemedicine and digital health have been greatly expanded.
Such technologies can benefit your efforts in multiple ways.
First, they can make referral and diagnosis easier. For many months now, e-learning materials have helped community volunteers identify potential leprosy cases, and then refer them on to health workers. With access to m-health and e-health technologies, patients can share pictures of suspected infections, and be provided real-time access to expert advice.
Second, they can increase access to counselling and mental health support – key priorities in our new global strategy. To that end, a practical e-learning module on counselling has already been rolled out, with a focus on overcoming the mental impact of prejudice and discrimination.
Third, they can strengthen capacity building. Many more people can participate in virtual meetings than in-person meetings, at almost zero additional cost. The scope to increase community participation in such meetings is now limitless, and must be utilized to ensure ever more voices are brought to the table.
These and a range of other opportunities are ours to identify and apply, as together we pursue the new Global Leprosy Strategy and NTD Roadmap, and accelerate towards our targets and goals.
I once again thank Mr Sasakawa, our Goodwill Ambassador, for his outstanding service. I am certain he will continue to play an outsized role in furthering our mission in the months and years ahead – because leprosy cannot and must not be forgotten.
I wish you all the very best in this webinar series, and thank Professor Taka Hiro Nanri, and the Sasakawa Health Foundation, for the opportunity to address you today.
Thank you.