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Service Yezu Mwiza in collaboration with Action Damien, are working together on a project for the socio-economic reintegration of people affected by leprosy, through development of micro-projects and their exhortation to unite in self-promotion association. It is a project co-financed by the Belgian government, established over five years from 2017 to 2021 through Action Damien Organisation.

On March 16, 2021, Dr Martine Toussaint, consultant of Action Damien / Belgium, accompanied by Dr Pancrace NTIBARUFATA, national focal point for leprosy at the National Integrated Program for the Fight against Tuberculosis (PNILT) as well as his deputy NDIKUMANA Napoléon Mossius a visited SYM headquarters as part of the assessment of the progress of this program in order to better understand the challenges that SYM is encountering in the implementation of the project activities included in previous years and to define the tracks for the next program.

After welcoming visitors, the Executive Director saluted the good partnership between SYM and Action Damien. He added that in previous years, SYM supported people affected by leprosy to recover in their rights through associations, which were previously isolated, marginalized. From these associations, microcredits were granted to them to create micro-projects to promote their financial autonomy. Joint awareness committees, made by influential and active people in the community, have been set up to raise awareness about the first clinical signs of leprosy in order to prevent early complications of leprosy.

In addition to these activities already carried out, he did not fail to point out some challenges, especially on the management side of people already affected by leprosy. Plantar wound care kits are sometimes missing, which disrupts the healing process.
The Director of SYM also mentioned the future prospects including:

* The creation of new associations in other localities where there are many cases affected by leprosy, especially in the communes of Mabayi, Bukinanyana and Murwi (Cibitoke) and in the provinces of Ruyigi and Cankuzo.

* Advocate to increase the quantity of plantar care kits;

* Conduct regular supervision and follow-up and home visits to beneficiaries to ensure the proper management of the resources made available to them and the status of their income-generating activities;

* Train health care providers in health centres in areas on leprosy detection and treatment.