Dr Harold Wheate’s association with LEPRA began when he was sent out to Nigeria for BELRA in the summer of 1947 to gain experience in leprosy work after war service in the RAF. He later went to East Africa to work at the Kumi Leprosy Centre in Uganda from 1949 to 1953.From 1954, as government leprologist in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) he was sent to Makete and oversaw the building of the new hospital there before becoming Director of Training at ALERT in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1974-1980. Before his retirement he worked for a few years at the ILEP office in London.

Dr. Wheate served as a member of the LEPRA Medical Advisory Board, and served over 35 years in the cause of those with leprosy. He died on 19th April 2004 at the age of 86.