02097nas a2200217   4500000000100000008004100001653002700042653001400069653002200083653002000105100001300125700001200138700001800150700001300168245011000181856008700291300000700378490000600385520147400391022001401865       2016                            d10aVisceral Leishmaniasis10aTreatment10aMultidrug therapy10aDrug Resistance1 aSingh OP1 aSingh B1 aChakravarty J1 aSundar S00aCurrent challenges in treatment options for visceral leishmaniasis in India: a public health perspective.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4782357/pdf/40249_2016_Article_112.pdf  a190 v53 a<p>Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a serious parasitic disease causing considerable mortality and major disability in the Indian subcontinent. It is most neglected tropical disease, particularly in terms of new drug development for the lack of financial returns. An elimination campaign has been running in India since 2005 that aim to reduce the incidence of VL to below 1 per 10,000 people at sub-district level. One of the major components in this endeavor is reducing transmission through early case detection followed by complete treatment. Substantial progress has been made during the recent years in the area of VL treatment, and the VL elimination initiatives have already saved many lives by deploying them effectively in the endemic areas. However, many challenges remain to be overcome including availability of drugs, cost of treatment (drugs and hospitalization), efficacy, adverse effects, and growing parasite resistance. Therefore, better emphasis on implementation research is urgently needed to determine how best to deliver existing interventions with available anti-leishmanial drugs. It is essential that the new treatment options become truly accessible, not simply available in endemic areas so that they may promote healing and save lives. In this review, we highlight the recent advancement and challenges in current treatment options for VL in disease endemic area, and discuss the possible strategies to improve the therapeutic outcome.</p>
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