Video lessons on kala azar out,more on swine flu on the way

MUHS on Monday released a film on kala azar,a forgotten disease in many parts of India. Kala azar,or visceral leishmaniasis,is caused by sandfly bites and includes fever,splenomegaly,anaemia and progressive weight loss. It affects roughly 50,000 people in northern India,Nepal and Bangladesh every year.

“A tripartite agreement was signed by these countries at the World Health Assembly to eliminate kala azar using new diagnosis and a new oral drug,Miltefosine,which is very effective but has side effects that are avoidable. The goal is to eliminate kala azar by 2015,” said Dr Nilima Kshirsagar,director professor,Infectious Diseases and Interdisciplinary Research,MUHS.

The target audience of the WHO-sponsored,40-minute film is both patients and health professionals. The video is in three parts. Part one is a short story about a kala azar patient,Meenudevi,from a village in Bihar. In part two doctors answer frequently asked questions on how one can avoid the drug’s side effects. The last part emphasises documentation in the patient card and the outpatient department card.

The movie,made in Mumbai University’s digital academy,was field-tested in Bihar and will soon be tested in Nepal and Bangladesh. “The film was prepared through the initiative of the Tropical Diseases Research Programme of WHO. It was made with the help of students of MUHS and Mumbai University,” said Dr Kshirsagar.