YOHEI Sasakawa has made it his life-long mission to eradicate leprosy and the discrimination against those affected by the disease. He has been advocating this cause for the past 50 years and has served as the World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador for the elimination of leprosy since 2001.

His philanthropic aspiration began when young Sasakawa accompanied his father to a leprosy hospital in South Korea that his father, Ryoichi Sasa