New Face for Leprosy 

“My first husband left me after I was diagnosed with leprosy.” That was when Chilakamma was 40, after she developed skin patches and rapid deformities on her feet. “I lost sensation on my feet gradually.” She was prescribed multi drug therapy for two years. She has four children, all now in their forties and fifties. “But my sons have moved away, they don’t want to be near me. My daughters are nearby and I had no difficulty arranging their marriages.”

“When I was diagnosed I felt very depressed and stopped meeting friends. I still feel low sometimes although my friends are supportive. Their names are tattooed on my arm.” She soaks her feet every three days or so to keep her skin supple, and wears protective MCR (micro-cellular rubber) footwear from the clinic.

“I receive a disability pension. And I still chop wooden panels down to smaller pieces which I sell. I earn 500 rupees per month from that. I go to church regularly and visit the temple. I have taken four people who might have leprosy to the referral centre.”