Staff of the Fondation Raoul Follereau and ILEP, and people affected by leprosy and Buruli ulcer, are among many collaborators who will miss Dr Augustin Guédénon following his death in a car accident in Abomey, Benin, on 12^th January. He was buried on 4^th February 2010.

An expert in leprosy and Buruli ulcer, Dr Augustin Guédénon, was greatly valued and respected and his views on fighting these two diseases were always listened to. His speciality was dermatology.

At the time of his death, although retired, he had been acting as a Consultant and Medical Advisor to ILEP Member Fondation Raoul Follereau. In this capacity he had been giving technical support, guidance and encouragement to their leprosy co-ordinators in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Chad, Niger, Guinea, Congo and Madagascar. Dr Guédénon assessed gaps in information and the functioning of their anti-leprosy activities so that he could advise on suitable strategies to improve their management of cases of leprosy and Buruli ulcer.  

In 1992 he was made Leprosy Co-ordinator for Benin by the Government with responsibility for defining anti-leprosy strategy in this country, supervising activities and evaluating the results. He held this position until 1998 when he was assigned the role of managing Benin’s National Buruli Ulcer Programme, which he did until his retirement in 2003. The leprosy and Buruli ulcer programmes under his leadership were considered among the best in Africa.

Dr Guédénon gained a national diploma in medicine in 1978. His first position was as head doctor for a health district. He pursued post-graduate studies in France between 1985 and 1989, including a year at the Hôpital Saint Louis in Paris.

In his opinion training is vital in the fight against leprosy. Dr Guédénon believed that one had to keep on informing people about leprosy and providing training because the staff turn-over among health workers in Africa is high. Prodding health staff to conduct detection campaigns, he considered, would always carry the risk of incorrect diagnoses of leprosy. In 2004, he spearheaded the first ten-day intensive training course, which was held in Bamako, Mali, for National Co-ordinators of Leprosy Control Programmes for francophone African countries.      

As an active member of the ILEP Technical Commission Dr Guédénon was particularly focused on the importance of ensuring that quality leprosy services are maintained at field level, through continued sensitisation of health authorities and supporting the integration process. To this end he was a strong advocate of ILEP’s important role in providing support for training at relevant levels. 

Dr Guédénon was a man of great faith and a man of peace, who lead all of his assignments competently and with dedication. Those who knew him appreciated his quiet strength, his judicious advice, his kindness and his infectious and reassuring laugh. He leaves behind seven children. 

Categories: Africa, Members, News and Notes