Our approach involves

10 countries

Our Foundation is currently active in the fight against leprosy in ten countries, namely, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, China, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mozambique, Nigeria and Rwanda. In all these, the Ministry of Health and the Foundation have signed a cooperation agreement. Our Foundation has always been in the forefront of both local and national policy in combating the disease and we see to it that such policy conforms to international recommendations.

In 2007, 12,126 patients were discovered in the ten countries mentioned.

Country	Population covered	Cases detected
Bangladesh	33 970 436	1 021
Brazil	11 029 636	226
Burundi	7 914 438	239
China	49 753 838	74
Comoros	635 669	111
D. R. Congo	38 295 522	7 067
India	77 806 705	3 122
Mozambique	3 240 450	181
Nigeria	8 805 572	39
Rwanda	8 781 770	62

Checks

DF usually works through or by supporting the public health department. Support always includes technical support, which means the presence on the spot of an adviser or visiting consultant. Action may be material and financial. Our approach concentrates above all on keeping the disease in check. We try to track it down at an early stage and treat sick persons while preventing them from becoming invalids. To the extent that we can, we also cater for the physical rehabilitation of handicapped patients. When it comes to socioeconomic rehabilitation or social and economic reinsertion of former patients, we do not have the necessary expertise. We are trying therefore to redirect patients in this category to other organisations or specialist bodies.

The integrated approach

The approach depends above all on the local authorities. However, we do favour an integrated approach in fighting leprosy. We do this through general health services, placing the emphasis on training local personnel in order to ensure sustainability.