Monitoring drug effectiveness in kala-azar in Bihar India: cost and feasibility of periodic random surveys versus a health service - based reporting system

摘要

Background and ObjectiveVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a chronic infectious disease that is of major public health importance in the state of Bihar in India. A regional VL Elimination Initiative was launched in 2005 based on the use of the oral drug miltefosine. However, concerns were raised about development of drug resistance. Drug effectiveness cannot be assessed accurately based on the current recording and reporting system of health facilities. In 2009 a random survey was conducted in Muzaffarpur district to document the clinical outcomes of VL patients treated by the public health care system in 2008. We analyze the operational feasibility and cost of such periodic random survey as compared to health facility based routine monitoring.