Japan Boosts Complex Fight to Eliminate Leprosy in Brazil

Yohei Sasakawa (C), president of the Nippon Foundation and World Health Organisation Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, shakes the hand of Sebastião Miranda Filho, the mayor of Marabá in northern Brazil, where the foundation finances a project to distribute food to poor families affected by the disease, to encourage them to complete treatment. Credit: Artur Custodio/IPSBy Mario OsavaBRASILIA, Jul 9 2019 (IPS) When cases of Hansen’s disease, better known as leprosy, increase in Brazil, it is not due to a lack of medical assistance but to the growing efficacy of the health system in detecting infections, contrary to the situation in other countries. This unique aspect of the disease was highlighted during a Jul. 2-7 visit by Nippon Foundation President Yohei Sasakawa to the northern Brazilian states of Pará and Maranhão, to learn about and reinforce efforts to reduce the incidence of the disease. Sasakawa continued his tour of this Latin American country on Monday Jul. 8 in Brasilia, where he will meet with President Jair Bolsonaro and other authorities from the executive, legislative and judicial branches, before returning to Japan on Wednesday Jul. 10. The Nippon Foundation funds several projects in Brazil, one of which facilitates telephone and Internet communications, to expand and improve information about this chronic disease and combat the prejudice, stigma and discrimination surrounding it. Early detection is one of the recommendations stressed in Sa...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Active Citizens Civil Society Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Headlines Health Latin America & the Caribbean Regional Categories Brazil Hansen's disease leprosy Nippon Foundation Yohei Sasakawa Source Type: news