Pacific Leprosy Foundation

11/12/2025

𝗪𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

If you hear leprosy mentioned, particularly if it is in a derogatory way, please tell the speaker the facts about leprosy – that it is a bacterial disease, which can be cured and which is very slow to develop, and that the sufferer is a normal person – not dirty or sinful and who should not be a social outcast.

If Solomoni wasn't as embarrassed by his appearance and worried about what could be causing it, he may have come out of hiding sooner and therefore sought treatment sooner.

Read more about Solomoni: https://www.leprosy.org.nz/news/article/solomoni-comes-out-of-hiding

09/12/2025

The term welfare, to us, encompasses anything which makes current and former leprosy patients able to lead happier, healthier and more comfortable lives, similar to the life they might have led if sickness and disability hadn’t intervened.

Petelu Salue is a very happy man now. After getting married, he lived with his wife’s extended family near Apia where he and his wife raised their four children. When his wife died about 10 years ago, he felt he was a burden living with her family.

Read more about Petelu's story here: https://www.leprosy.org.nz/news/article/petelo-gets-his-own-room

07/12/2025

We have a few snippets of news for you from 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗨𝗔𝗧𝗨.

🕶️ 𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗧𝗢 #𝟭 A young patient called David lost a lot of his possessions in the earthquake in Port Vila last December. In particular he needed kitchen utensils and sunglasses. The sunglasses are particularly important as some leprosy sufferers struggle to blink owing to nerve damage to their faces. Sunglasses help protect the eyes from excessive light and dust. David was very grateful for the help which you enabled for him.

💡 𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗧𝗢 #𝟮 This is a picture of Steven and Annie with their quarterly welfare packages. They also asked for solar lights because if they sleep in the dark, rats come and eat the wounded areas on their feet which have no sensation, due to leprosy. You can see that Steven’s feet are heavily bandaged. When our doctor visits in August he will check Steven and Annie and see is anything can be done to improve the ulcers on their feet.

🍚 𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗧𝗢 #𝟯 𝗔𝗡𝗗 #𝟰 This is Isaac and his wife Verongi with their quarterly welfare supplies. In the past, the Foundation funded their children’s school expenses and all the children now have jobs. They help their parents as much as they can, topped up by the monthly supplies from the Foundation. Some of you may have seen the video about Isaac which was shown at donor meetings a few years ago. He was especially unfortunate to have been affected by leprosy and polio! It is lovely to see him looking so well. Thank you for your help for them.

🏝️ 𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗧𝗢 #𝟱 Matea lives in a very remote village on the west coast of Santo. His only access to the village is by boat. He suffers from many ulcers on his feet because of leprosy and has to regularly come to Luganville for medical treatment – his ulcers are finally beginning to heal. Matea will also be checked when our doctor visits in August.

04/12/2025

Leprosy is still a problem in 2025 but you can help us by

🌺 Donating to us
🌼 Shopping from us
🌸 Fundraising for us

Please visit our website for more information, or contact us at [email protected]

Pacific Leprosy Foundation is a registered charitable organisation under the Charities Act 2005. Our Charities Commission registration number is CC26987.

02/12/2025

𝗟𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗮𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘆

One of the initiatives the Foundation has been supporting in Kiribati is the development of an organisation for people affected by leprosy. This is made up of current and past patients as well as their family members.

The group has been incorporated as a society and chose the name LASKAR (which means helping those with leprosy).

To learn more, click the following link: https://www.leprosy.org.nz/news/article/laskar-group-helps-fight-leprosy

30/11/2025

Household screening continues in Vanuatu

In Vanuatu our PEP (post exposure prophylaxis) activities are continuing in known “hot spots” for leprosy.

Population screening has continued in Malampa province at three more villages - Unua, Aulua and Atchin.

A total of 1036 people were examined for signs of leprosy, and where appropriate given a dose of Rifampicin to reduce the likelihood of anyone who may be incubating the disease from developing leprosy.

To read more of this article, please follow this link: https://www.leprosy.org.nz/news/article/household-screening-continues-in-vanuatu

28/11/2025

Our biennial full team meeting!

In mid-August we gathered at the Novotel in Nadi for two solid days of training and discussion. This is a wonderful opportunity to ensure that the whole team understands our aims, and how to achieve them.

The theme of this year’s meeting was “Zero leprosy in children by 2030” which is the World Health Organization (WHO) and our target. The reasoning behind this is that no leprosy in children, means reduced transmission of leprosy in the community, and this is a vital stage in the total elimination of leprosy.

The training sessions included tuition about leprosy reactions and drug resistance, stigma and discrimination, educating patients about leprosy when they are diagnosed, the role of public health’s in leprosy prevention and many more subjects.

It was an exhausting, but also exhilarating two days and I am certain that everyone left the meeting armed with new knowledge and new incentive to achieve this goal.

03/11/2025

Where We Work 💼

🇳🇿 Most people are very surprised to hear that we have cases of leprosy in New Zealand. Leprosy takes years to develop to a stage where it is visible and able to be diagnosed. For that reason, some people move to New Zealand with no idea that they are suffering from leprosy.

- It was in Fiji that the work of the Foundation really began. In 1924, all leprosy patients in the South Pacific were sent to live on Makogai Island in Fiji where they were cared for by the smsm Sisters.

- Samoa has a number of new leprosy cases each year and many former leprosy patients who suffer from serious disabilities.

- In Tonga there are few new leprosy patients, and the welfare of former leprosy patients is in the hands of the smsm Sisters.

- We are not yet as active in Tuvalu as we would like to be but we are in regular contact with the leprosy doctors there.

- Vanuatu has a lot of small islands and nearly every main island has current and former leprosy patients who need your help.

- Kiribati is one of just a handful of countries who have a level of leprosy above that needed for elimination of leprosy as a public health risk. This is not helped by the overcrowding on the main island, Tarawa.

- In the Solomon Islands, Elsie is our in-country representative and she is also a National Co-ordinator for Community Based Rehabilitation. She is in regular contact with those who have been disabled by leprosy and is in a perfect position to assess their social and welfare requirements.

30/10/2025

Your help is vital.

The Pacific Leprosy Foundation is not eligible for government assistance to carry out our work, as the government does not fund single disease projects. All the work which we do is funded by donations, bequests and income from our invested reserve funds. Our annual expenditure is approximately $1 million and we have at least 30 years of work left to do. We really appreciate your generosity.

Thank you so much - to donate, please go to our website.

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https://www.leprosy.org.nz/donate

07/11/2024