Millennium Gandhi award presented

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 14. The curing of leprosy patients alone does not solve their problem as greater misery awaits them in the form of social stigma, the former President, Mr. R. Venkataraman, said today. ``What is needed is not only killing the leprosy bascilla from the human body but giving the person so affected, self respect, economic independence and his rightful place in the society,'' Mr. Venkataraman said while presenting `the Millennium Gandhi Award' to Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation, Japan.

Mr. Sasakawa, who received the award for his contribution to make the world free of leprosy, said ``out of the 122 countries that were endemic in the year 1985 only six remain. India has the farthest to go, but is possibly working the hardest.''

The award comprises Rs. one lakh and a citation.

- PTI

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