Yohei Sasakawa Calls for an End to Discrimination Against Leprosy Sufferers

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Yohei Sasakawa, Honorary Ambassador of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Leprosy Elimination, is committed to eradicating the spread of leprosy in Indonesia.

Through the Sasakawa Health Foundation (SHF), the 87-year-old man emphasized that efforts to combat leprosy must also be carried out together through an approach that leprosy is not a curse.

"The most important thing is to treat and free these people from discrimination and give them sympathy. I also hope that we can work together to eliminate leprosy," said Yohei Sasakawa during a media briefing at Wisma Habibi-Ainun, Kuningan, Jakarta, on Thursday, January 15, 2026.

Sasakawa is very concerned about the spread of this disease in Indonesia. This is because Indonesia is one of the top three countries with the highest number of leprosy sufferers.

The spread of leprosy is exacerbated by the lack of public education that leprosy is curable and not an easily transmissible disease.

“As we know, leprosy has medical symptoms and also faces stigma due to miscommunication that must be addressed,” said Sasakawa.

“I also hope that we can work together to eliminate leprosy,” he continued.

On the same occasion, Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin also welcomed Sasakawa's commitment. He hoped that leprosy eradication could be more comprehensive and carried out jointly by providing good education to the community.

"So if friends isolate and abandon their relatives who have leprosy, that is misinformation. There is no scientific evidence for that. And the scientific evidence is that once we are infected with the leprosy bacteria, we take antibiotics for less than a week and it stops being contagious," said Minister Budi.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Habibie Center Foundation, Ilham Akbar Habibie, said that his party is ready to collaborate with the Sasakawa Foundation and the Indonesian Ministry of Health to jointly combat leprosy in Indonesia.

"The Habibi Center is all about democracy. So democracy certainly has many factors. First, of course, is the political system, but beyond that, there is also the quality of life in Indonesia. Quality of life includes freedom, welfare, health, and justice. There are many aspects that concern everyone who cares about democracy. And of course, as I mentioned, health is one of them," said the son of the 3rd President of Indonesia.