The Honourable Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee for this World Forum, Dr Kim, Choon-jin, a member of the National Assembly, and
Mr Lee Gil-Yong, President of Hanvit Welfare Association;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am very pleased to attend the 2010 World Forum on Hansen's disease.
It is an honour to have been invited to this unique and important meeting and to represent World Health Organization.
I would like to thank the Organizing Committee for hosting this important global meeting on Hansen's disease in the Republic of Korea.
The Republic of Korea has eliminated Hansen’s disease successfully and made an outstanding achievement to promote human rights and welfare for people affected by Hansen’s disease.
The day before yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit Sorokdo National Hospital and meet many people affected by Hansen's disease.
I really wanted to observe myself what the situation is like.
It really impressed me to see the individualized care service, the great effort for peoples' welfare and the extensive system of volunteers.
This visit again showed the importance of helping and improving their lives through rehabilitation and welfare as well as through health care.
I am certain the 2010 World Forum on Hansen's disease with the theme "Isolation to Integration" and the endorsement of the Seoul declaration will improve the basis of global collaboration concerning Hansen’s disease by establishing networks between countries, UN agencies and non-governmental organisations.
First of all I want to repeat my statement from the Regional Committee Meeting in Malaysia last month, "we still have unfinished business with leprosy or better Hansen’s disease”.
As we all know, Hansen’s disease is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae with a long incubation period.
It affects a person’s skin, the way they look and their peripheral nerves causing disability and suffering.
The disease often causes social stigma and discrimination.
The saddest part is that Hansen’s disease is curable.
Drugs to treat this disease, prevent disability and stop transmission are available.
The technology exists – we simply have to use it.
With the introduction of multidrug therapy, which WHO has promoted since the early 1980s, cases of Hansen’s disease have decreased remarkably worldwide.
More than 15 million patients have now been cured.
Elimination of Hansen’s disease means that there is less than 1 prevalent case per 10 000 population.
In the Western Pacific Region we reached this level across the region in 1991.
However, in 2009 globally 16 countries are still reporting more than 1,000 new cases per year.
The largest burden of new cases lays in India with 130,000 cases and Brazil with 38,000 cases.
In the Western Pacific Region, 2 countries – China and Philippines - were still reporting more than 1,000 new cases per year.
In addition a few Pacific island countries – Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia – have not yet eliminated this disease and the prevalence in Papua New Guinea is just below the elimination target.
The difficult geographic situation with widely spread out islands and remote valleys pose a huge challenge on accessing Hansen’s disease services.
We need to improve the integration with general health care services and ensure the immediate availability of drugs in remote areas.
Also health care workers need to be well trained and the general population needs to be well informed in order to improve case finding, diagnosis, clinical management and treatment completion.
Finally we need to support countries to establish comprehensive and integrated systems for regular monitoring and evaluation of programmes.
As many of you know, the Western Pacific Region has led a number of pioneering efforts to eliminate Hansen’s disease.
We were the first to introduce multidrug therapy blister-packs prior to their expansion globally.
But the elimination of Hansen’s disease as a public health problem is only an interim goal and we must go beyond that.
Because of the long incubation period new cases will continue to occur for many years.
Our ultimate goal should be to reduce the disease burden further in all countries.
Historically, Hansen’s disease has a very negative image in many communities.
Disability, stigma and social discrimination are daily challenges in the lives of those affected by Hansen’s disease and their families.
Social segregation and its psychological impact often lead to a denial of basic human rights for those with Hansen’s disease.
WPRO hosted a global meeting in June 2010, in which both experts and affected people participated.
The endorsement of the “Guidelines for Participation of People Affected by Leprosy in Leprosy Services” was a big step forward.
I fully support the vision of today’s “2010 World Forum on Hansen’s Disease” from “Isolation to Integration”.
This Forum calls for an end to social prejudice and discrimination for those affected by Hansen’s disease.
We all agree that everybody should have the same basic rights, dignity and values and that the honour of those who have suffered injustice needs to be restored.
Psychosocial rehabilitation needs to be provided for all those affected by Hansen’s disease.
There is a global need to promote supporting the lives of those affected by Hansen’s disease.
This includes government assistance to individuals to develop to the best of their abilities through rehabilitation programmes, training, counseling and recruiting services.
A big step has been made with this years “Seoul declaration” to make a difference in the daily life of those affected by Hansen’s Disease.
WHO's work in this area is guided by the “Enhanced Global Strategy for Further Reducing the Disease Burden Due to Leprosy (2011–2015)”.
The goal is to “further reduce the disease burden and to sustain the provision of high-quality leprosy services for all affected communities.”
This ensures “that the principles of equity and social justice are followed”.
The global strategy mainly focuses on reducing the rate of new cases detected with visible disability, on reducing the rates of newly detected cases and on increasing cure rates.
On behalf of WHO, I wish to acknowledge the partners and experts who have been involved in the fight against Hansen’s disease.
Thank you all for your untiring work.
But we cannot be complacent.
We need more efforts to improve leprosy services.
We need to reverse the negative mindset in many communities and we need simple guidelines to help national programmes, nongovernmental organizations and those affected to banish Hansen’s disease.
I want to make it my personal mission to see that Hansen’s disease is further reduced and eliminated from the remaining countries of this Region in the near future.
The Western Pacific Region is in a very good position to eliminate Hansen’s disease in the remaining three countries as well as in endemic pockets.
WHO will intensify country specific activities and improve coordination with partner organizations as well as local volunteer groups.
Country specific action plans are being developed.
We will deploy additional staff wherever necessary to fight Hansen’s disease and work towards integration with general health care services.
In addition sub-national approaches, including intensified case finding, contact tracing and leprosy-screening in endemic areas are needed.
Of course the necessary interventions rely on strong and sustainable political commitment of Member States and partners and additional financial support is needed for the Western Pacific Region.
I wish you a fruitful conference and a pleasant stay in my home city Seoul.
Thank you.