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Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care

Somalia, ravaged by conflict since 1991, has areas endemic for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a deadly parasitic disease affecting the rural poor, internally displaced, and pastoralists. Very little is known about VL burden in Somalia, where the protracted crisis hampers access to health care. We revi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sunyoto, Temmy, Potet, Julien, Boelaert, Marleen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5344316/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28278151
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005231
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author Sunyoto, Temmy
Potet, Julien
Boelaert, Marleen
author_facet Sunyoto, Temmy
Potet, Julien
Boelaert, Marleen
author_sort Sunyoto, Temmy
collection PubMed
description Somalia, ravaged by conflict since 1991, has areas endemic for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a deadly parasitic disease affecting the rural poor, internally displaced, and pastoralists. Very little is known about VL burden in Somalia, where the protracted crisis hampers access to health care. We reviewed evidence about VL epidemiology in Somalia and appraised control options within the context of this fragile state’s health system. VL has been reported in Somalia since 1934 and has persisted ever since in foci in the southern parts of the country. The only feasible VL control option is early diagnosis and treatment, currently mostly provided by nonstate actors. The availability of VL care in Somalia is limited and insufficient at best, both in coverage and quality. Precarious security remains a major obstacle to reach VL patients in the endemic areas, and the true VL burden and its impact remain unknown. Locally adjusted, innovative approaches in VL care provision should be explored, without undermining ongoing health system development in Somalia. Ensuring VL care is accessible is a moral imperative, and the limitations of the current VL diagnostic and treatment tools in Somalia and other endemic settings affected by conflict should be overcome.
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spelling pubmed-53443162017-03-29 Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care Sunyoto, Temmy Potet, Julien Boelaert, Marleen PLoS Negl Trop Dis Review Somalia, ravaged by conflict since 1991, has areas endemic for visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a deadly parasitic disease affecting the rural poor, internally displaced, and pastoralists. Very little is known about VL burden in Somalia, where the protracted crisis hampers access to health care. We reviewed evidence about VL epidemiology in Somalia and appraised control options within the context of this fragile state’s health system. VL has been reported in Somalia since 1934 and has persisted ever since in foci in the southern parts of the country. The only feasible VL control option is early diagnosis and treatment, currently mostly provided by nonstate actors. The availability of VL care in Somalia is limited and insufficient at best, both in coverage and quality. Precarious security remains a major obstacle to reach VL patients in the endemic areas, and the true VL burden and its impact remain unknown. Locally adjusted, innovative approaches in VL care provision should be explored, without undermining ongoing health system development in Somalia. Ensuring VL care is accessible is a moral imperative, and the limitations of the current VL diagnostic and treatment tools in Somalia and other endemic settings affected by conflict should be overcome. Public Library of Science 2017-03-09 /pmc/articles/PMC5344316/ /pubmed/28278151 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005231 Text en © 2017 Sunyoto et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Review
Sunyoto, Temmy
Potet, Julien
Boelaert, Marleen
Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care
title Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care
title_full Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care
title_fullStr Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care
title_full_unstemmed Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care
title_short Visceral leishmaniasis in Somalia: A review of epidemiology and access to care
title_sort visceral leishmaniasis in somalia: a review of epidemiology and access to care
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5344316/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28278151
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005231
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