| Union Minister Committed to the Cause |
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WHO Special Ambassador Yohei Sasakawa found a ready audience when he called on Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Sushma Swaraj on a visit to India last November.
Mr. Sasakawa began the meeting by outlining his mission to eliminate leprosy and advance the human rights of people affected by leprosy. Mrs.Swaraj responded enthusiastically, saying she takes a keen interest in leprosy issues that goes beyond her formal responsibilities as health minister.
“I believe Mahatma Gandhi when he said that if you want to approach God, you must serve leprosy patients. These people are the most deprived, the ones who have suffered most−not just physically from the disease but also mentally, because they have been rejected by society.”
Mrs. Swaraj, who was appointed health minister in January 2003, recalled how her first contact with leprosy-affected people was at the age of 25, when she contested a local assembly election in her home state of Haryana. There was a colony of 90 patients nearby, and she made a point of getting to know them. “In addition to the medical help that the doctors provided, I would visit them every Sunday to socialize and dine with them,” she said.
At this colony and at another in South Delhi, she persuaded leprosy-affected people to stop begging for a living and allow the government to care for them. Although she could not persuade their families to take them back, she did help to arrange marriages between them and organize educational opportunities for their children.
“I can assure you that this cause is very dear to me. I am acting out of conviction,” she told Special Ambassador Sasakawa. “We must achieve the goal of leprosy elimination by 2005.” |
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