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Meet Pankaj Kumar Srivastava, a champion for a leprosy-free India

15-year-old Pankaj would often look at his right foot and ask himself why his ulcer did not heal. He has seen many doctors in his native village in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Their ointments and antibiotics did not work, rather his ulcer got worse. He often sat by himself as he could not go out and play.

The journey from the pavement to the classroom – Leprosy was not a stumbling block for Rishu

The ward nurse in the ulcer ward of TLM Muzaffarpur Hospital, Bihar, visits Suman Devi every day for dressing her ulcer. She has been doing this for a month now. Suman Devi first visited TLM Muzaffarpur Hospital a few years back where she was diagnosed with leprosy. The physician there put her on multidrug therapy (MDT). She was cured, but leprosy damaged the nerves on the skin’s surface on her legs resulting in loss of sensation. That led to ulcer (a secondary complication of leprosy) and now she is in the hospital for ulcer treatment.

It was early detection of leprosy that saved Anjalai’s children from disability

It is a proven fact that leprosy is a leading cause of permanent physical disabilities among communicable diseases. But what is the best way to prevent disabilities caused by leprosy? The answer is undoubtedly early detection of the disease and treatment with multidrug therapy (MDT).