Category: Hansen’s disease

by Michael Gillan Peckitt December 1, 2025 Number of comments0
Disability Hansen's disease Japan Medical

Nippon Foundation’s Sasakawa Visits Leprosy Colony in New Delhi

Yohei Sasakawa, honorary chair of the Nippon Foundation and WHO goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, visited a leprosy colony in New Delhi where up to 250 residents live, urging about 30 accompanying Japanese business representatives to support efforts against the disease. India accounts for roughly 60 percent of the world’s new leprosy cases, and the Sasakawa Health Foundation organized the visit to raise awareness among Japanese residents in the country. Although effective treatments exist, people affected by leprosy in India still face deep-rooted social exclusion and often form or join isolated colonies—some of the roughly 800 believed to exist nationwide—to escape discrimination tied to the caste system

by Michael Gillan Peckitt September 16, 2020 Number of comments0
Disability Hansen's disease Kobe Kumamoto

479 Leprosy Patients at Sanatorium Dissected after Death

National Sanatorium Kikuchi Keifuen, an isolation facility for leprosy patients in southwestern Japan, had dissected the bodies of 479 patients after death, the facility said.  The facility “cannot escape being accused of disrespecting he human rights,” the report said. The sanatorium also found that there was a period in which the facility made patients sign documents consenting to the dissection of their bodies after death.