Türkan Saylan

Türkan Saylan (1935 to 2009) was a Turkish physician, dermatologist and professor at Istanbul University who became a leading figure in Turkey's campaign against leprosy. After specializing in dermatology and venereology she chaired the university's dermatology department, and from 1976 she worked on leprosy, founding the Turkish Leprosy Relief Association, directing the university's Leprosy Research and Application Center for twenty years and serving as chief physician of the Istanbul Leprosy Hospital. Her approach joined medical treatment to social rehabilitation, with protective footwear and eyewear, support for patients' children and income projects. In 1989 she co-founded the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living, which funded education for tens of thousands of girls and students, and she received the International Gandhi Award in 1986.