{
  "abstract": "In 2005, the governments of Bangladesh, India and Nepal, in partnership with the WHO, started the Kala-azar Elimination Programme (KEP) to reduce the incidence of visceral leishmaniasis to below 1 new case in 10 000 population. The target was achieved by Bangladesh in 2017 and validated in 2023. The KEP has demonstrated that, through a concerted approach and public–private partnership, it is possible to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis from the world’s highest endemic region, Southeast Asia. The experience learnt can be used elsewhere for visceral leishmaniasis as well as for other diseases targeted for elimination.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute, Oxford, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Piero Olliaro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Parasitology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh"
      ],
      "name": "Dinesh Mondal"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of General Internal Medicine, University of Washington—Seattle Campus, Seattle, Washington, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Ermias Diro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Visceral leishmaniasis elimination in South Asia: lessons learnt can inform disease elimination in East Africa",
  "uid": "fbd48f2a-8b56-5585-b718-06e11893ee76"
}