His mother and father are both labourers. Like most boys his age, he loves to play outside.
Originally diagnosed with leprosy aged five, Chittu was given a six-month course of multidrug therapy (MDT) but struggled to fully complete the treatment. As a result, he developed some disabilities in his hand.
During a field visit to Chittu’s village, Lepra staff noticed his symptoms and encouraged his parents to bring him to the local referral centre. Chittu now receives regular physiotherapy to help improve his mobility.
At first Chittu’s parents were worried by his diagnosis, but regular follow-ups with Lepra staff have helped to allay their concerns.
Children currently represent over 5% of new leprosy cases globally. When children are found to have leprosy, it denotes recent infection and that the disease is being actively transmitted in the community, indicating a need for more efforts to be made to detect cases early.
Only children aged 10 years old and over have access to age-specific MDT blister packs through the Novartis donation programme. This forces clinicians and community health workers to adapt adult medicines, splitting uncuttable tablets, opening capsules, and too often risking mis-dosing in small children.
Read how Lepra remains committed to ramping up efforts to address these issues and to seek out the 'missing millions' of hidden cases.