India unlikely to meet goal of eliminating kala-azar by 2015, say experts

Experts have cast doubt on whether India can reach its goal of eliminating kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) by the end of 2015 and have called for better surveillance.

In 2005 India signed a memorandum of understanding with Nepal and Bangladesh, undertaking to eliminate the neglected tropical disease by 2015. The goal is in line with the World Health Organization’s regional strategic framework (2011-2015) for elimination of the disease from its South East Asia region, which includes the three countries.

Elimination was defined as less than one case per 10 000 people at a district level.

However, recent research into the effectiveness of DDT spraying in Bihar—India’s poorest state, which has 70% of India’s cases of kala-azar—found that widespread vector resistance to DDT, …