The Fondation Raoul Follereau, one of the founding Members of ILEP, remains true to the message and direction of its founder. It continues to fight "against leprosy and all leprosies", such as ignorance and poverty, which tend to lead to exclusion. Irrespective of their origin or religion, the FRF places individuals at the heart of all their projects in France and throughout the world. Its activities are designed to cure the persons they are looking after, as also to educate, train and reintegrate them into society.

To accomplish its mission, the FRF has undertaken to:

• help people affected by leprosy and sustain health programmes;
• create a dynamic of development;
• provide relief to children in distress; and
• facilitate reintegration through employment in France.

 

PRIORITIES

The action the Fondation Raoul Follereau takes for the benefit of persons affected by leprosy is embodied in approximately 226 projects in 28 countries, for 12 of which it assumes co-ordinatorship responsibility within ILEP. It pursues the following three-pronged objective:

1. Treatment: to control the disease and avoid deformities through early detection and treatment.

2. Training: to improve patient management by training health workers to make accurate diagnoses and to focus on quality care; to inform populations by making them aware of the facts, notably on World Leprosy Day.

3. Reintegration: following in the footsteps of its founder, the Fondation Raoul Follereau has assigned itself the task of reintegrating former patients who have disabilities resulting from leprosy. It supports initiatives of local Raoul Follereau associations to help cured leprosy patients to rediscover their independence and place in society through an economic activity.

To fulfill its mission, the FRF provides material and logistical aid. In addition, it participates in research projects (for example to discover ways to increase the chances of preventing disease and to simplify treatments) and contributes to advances in medicine.

Winning the fight in favour of those with leprosy is still the number one priority of the Fondation Raoul Follereau, although this aim has led it to take action on other fronts. For almost 13 years it has supported new programmes against two other mycobacteria: tuberculosis and Buruli ulcer. Equally by taking action in the poorest countries in the world, the FRF strives to improve the sanitary conditions of the poorest populations, by meeting the direst needs.