Mission and vision
The Damien Foundation is highly specialised. Ours is a long-term battle waged specifically against two diseases, leprosy and tuberculosis. The focused nature of our work sets our Foundation apart from other non-governmental organisations. For the most part, this choice brought about our modus operandi :
- specialist medical aid departments
- scientific support
- international cooperation and coordination
- our determination to increase local personnel
Specialist medical aid departments
We mainly concentrate on fighting against two major diseases, and tuberculosis
Our long-term objectives
We help in setting up easily accessible, sustainable, high-quality programmes. However, we limit our project work to specific regions and countries. This is because our project commitment is a long-term one. As long as it is desirable, reasonable and necessary to do so, we will remain partners in a project.
Scientific backup
On the one hand, we contribute towards developing new techniques to help detect leprosy and tuberculosis. On the other hand, we also support efforts toward improving treatment efficiency. The Damien Foundation supports scientific research activities too.
Cooperation and international coordination
Isolated projects hardly have any future. This is why we work under the auspices of the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations, ILEP. Moreover, we are in constant dialogue with :
- The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, IUATLD
- The World Health Organization, WHO
- The medical authorities of countries in which we work in Africa, in Asia and America.
Increasing local personnel
The countries we work in have increasingly more qualified health personnel. We encourage local health workers to train and monitor activities in order to increase their capacity and know-how. Our final aim is to ensure programme continuity.