New framework for visceral leishmaniasis elimination launched for Eastern Africa
A new, comprehensive framework has been launched to guide health authorities, policy makers and other stakeholders towards the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis as a public health problem in Eastern Africa. Representatives from Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda, together with partners, academia, researchers, donors, and officials of the three levels of WHO (Africa Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, and headquarters) assembled and launched the Strategic Framework for the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa, 2023-2030, during a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 11-13 June 2024.
The elimination framework outlines five main strategies for guiding visceral leishmaniasis elimination: early diagnosis and treatment; integrated vector management; effective surveillance; advocacy, social mobilization, building partnerships; and implementation and operational research. It also includes a step-by-step process for implementing the main elimination phases and sets country and regional targets, such as a 90% reduction in visceral leishmaniasis burden in the Eastern Africa sub-region to fewer than 1,500 per year by 2030; detection and treatment of 90% of cases within 30 days of onset of symptoms by 2030; a 100% decline in visceral leishmaniasis deaths in children by 2030; 100% of visceral leishmaniasis-HIV patients started on ART therapy; and the detection, reporting, and management of all post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) cases.
Two EDCTP-funded projects on visceral leishmaniasis were represented at the launch meeting. The LeishAccess project aims to improve access to care for leishmaniasis patients, including vulnerable groups, for the various forms of the disease (visceral leishmaniasis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, PKDL, and HIV-VL). The project is implemented by a consortium made up of experts and key health institutions leading access within the countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda. VL-INNO is a three-year project that embraces the use of innovation in diagnosis and discovery of new safe oral drugs to tackle current treatment challenges for visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa. EDCTP was represented at the meeting by Dr Johanna Schaefer, Project Officer, EDCTP Association.