This is the history of Effect Hope: In 1869, a young Irishman named Wellesley Bailey boarded a ship bound for India, searching for opportunity and purpose. Instead, what he discovered would change the course of global health history.
While training as a teacher, Bailey encountered people affected by leprosy for the first time. He witnessed not only the devastating physical effects of the disease, but the profound injustice rooted in leprosy stigma—men, women, and children isolated from their families and community, because of an illness they could not control. There was no cure. The cause of leprosy had not yet been identified.
Years later, Bailey would reflect on that moment, writing:
“If there was ever a Christ-like work in the world, it was to go amongst these poor sufferers and bring them the consolation of the gospel.”
That conviction—grounded in compassion, social justice, and human dignity—became the foundation of a movement that would span continents, centuries, and ultimately evolve into the world’s largest leprosy-focused organization.
A Mission Focused on Social Justice
In 1874, with the support of Charlotte Pim and a small group of friends who pledged £30 a year, Bailey founded what is known today as The Leprosy Mission (TLM). From its foundation, this was never just about a disease. It was about confronting injustice.
Bailey’s outrage was not limited to the physical suffering caused by leprosy, but to the way people were treated because of it—excluded from society, denied care, and forgotten. His work became a social justice mission: restoring dignity to those who were abandoned.
That vision ignited a global movement.
Canada joined the global movement to end leprosy in 1892, forming what would become The Leprosy Mission Canada. From the beginning, Canadians played a hands‑on role—supporting hospitals and rehabilitation centres, contributing financially, and sending missionaries, clinicians, and technical specialists who worked alongside communities across Asia and Africa.
As the movement grew, TLM Canada played a leadership role within the international Leprosy Mission. Canadian partners supported major scientific and programmatic advances, including the development and scale‑up of multi‑drug therapy (MDT)—a breakthrough that transformed leprosy from a lifelong burden into a curable disease.
How Effect Hope Expanded Beyond Leprosy
As diagnostics and treatment modalities for leprosy progressed, a broader truth was revealed: the injustice faced by people affected by leprosy was shared by millions living with other diseases that had long been overlooked.
In the early 2000s, the World Health Organization recognized that a cluster of diseases—including leprosy—disproportionately affected people living in poverty, shared the same structural drivers, and had been overlooked for far too long. To elevate equity, strengthen integration, and increase impact across global health, the WHO formally grouped them under a new name: neglected tropical diseases.
Yet even with this progress, many people affected by NTDs still faced significant gaps in care. Large donors have supported prevention for several NTDs in recent years, but the diagnosis, treatment, and long‑term support people need have often been underfunded and delivered unevenly. Too much care had taken place outside the formal health system, creating inequities and making it difficult to sustain progress.
In response to a growing need for integration, The Leprosy Mission Canada rebranded in 2014 to Effect Hope, moving from a disease-focused approach to a people-centred one. Leprosy remained core to our mission, but within a broader fight against neglect and inequality. We established our own International Programs department, building a portfolio of transformative programs designed to increase the availability and accessibility of NTD care in Asia and Africa.
Effect Hope’s Leadership in Integrated NTD Care
Since then, Effect Hope has helped redefine integrated, people-centred NTD care on a global scale. In 2015, the launch of R2STOP marked the first global research initiative aimed at stopping leprosy transmission. Partnerships with governments and universities soon followed, embedding NTD programs into national health systems.
Innovative models like UPLIFT have placed people affected by NTDs at the centre of change, while innovative programs integrated mental health into NTD care—addressing the full human impact of disease. In India, the ASPIRE program became the WHO-recognized standard for integrated Skin-NTD control in India.
In 2018, Effect Hope co-founded the Canadian Network for NTDs, elevating neglected diseases onto Canada’s global health agenda, building national momentum for wide-spread elimination.
Recognition in Effect Hope’s History
Today, Effect Hope is recognized not only for compassion, but for excellence.
Effect Hope is recognized as a leader in integrated NTD care and health systems strengthening. Programs like TRANSFORM now span entire countries, while peer-reviewed research and global partnerships continue to shape best practices globally.
From CCCC accreditation affirming ethical integrity, to repeated recognition by Charity Intelligence Canada—including being named a Top 10 Impact Charity and earning a 5-star rating for six consecutive years—our commitment to transparency and measurable impact is clear.
In 2025, groundbreaking work in women’s health set a new global standard, with the development of the world’s first integrated national strategy for Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS) in partnership with the Liberian Ministry of Health.
Same Heart, Global Vision: The History of Effect Hope Today
From our work across Africa and South Asia today, Effect Hope has always stood with those forgotten by the world.
What started as a response to the injustice of leprosy has grown into a global movement for equity in health care.
You can be part of that mission. Visit stillathing.ca to make a lasting difference that counts.
Because confronting injustice is not just our history—it is our mission, now and forever.
