Join free online training course for Visceral leishmaniasis

01 May 2019

A free online course to build and strengthen the skills necessary to control and eliminate Visceral leishmaniasis will be launched on the 6th May 2019. 

Designed for health professionals and those with an interest in neglected tropical diseases, the course aims to provide learners with the skills and knowledge to design, implement and evaluate effective Visceral leishmaniasis control programmes. 

Developed at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, under the KalaCORE programme, the course provides unprecedented access to practical tools and insight into understanding the requirements and complexities of such programmes.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is an infectious disease found in many parts of South Asia, East Africa, Southern Europe and South America, placing millions of people at risk of infection. It is fatal if untreated but the tools do exist to control transmission and even eliminate disease in endemic regions.

The syllabus for the 4 week (4 hrs per week) course covers all aspects of VL control including, an introduction to the disease’s biology and epidemiology, the clinical management of those affected by VL; biology, behaviour and control of sandflies; and, the tools available for effective VL control and elimination programmes.

The interactive course includes articles, quizzes, technique demonstration videos alongside interviews with leading VL stakeholders including doctors, researchers and programme managers and vector control specialists. 

Professor Simon Croft, lead educator on the course and Chair of Kalacore's Expert Steering Group, said,

‘Millions of people are still at risk from VL due to a lack of access to effective control interventions. This free course is designed to train and support the people working on the frontline of disease control. It’s about providing them with the skills to prevent, treat and manage this most debilitating of diseases.’

The course is part of the wider KalaCORE programme, which is working with governments in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Sudan and Sudan to support their efforts to control and eliminate VL. KalaCORE is a collaboration between LSHTM, Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative (DNDi), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Mott MacDonald and is funded by UK Aid from the UK Government.  

Click here to register for this free course. 

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