Leishmaniasis

Access to medicines

WHO's advocacy campaign

© Dr Jill Seaman/Sudan


WHO's advocacy campaign has focused on promoting equitable access to health services, and in particular to medicines. The campaign has been rewarded with two successes: the price of two of the five existing medicines for VL has been reduced (by 90% for liposomal amphotericin B and by 60% for meglumine antimoniate); and two new medicines have been included in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (17th edition) (paromomycin in 2007 and liposomal amphotericin B in 2008). In addition, WHO, together with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, investigated a counterfeit product for visceral leishmaniasis that was used in Bangladesh in 2008, until the drug was finally banned by the Government.

A limited stock of drugs is kept at WHO Headquarters to allow a rapid response in case of outbreaks and to cover unforeseen situations in countries.

More comprehensive information on leishmaniasis research is available on the TDR website: Tropical Disease Research

Costs of medicines in current use for the treatment of leishmaniasis.
Technical Report series (TRS) 949, 2010, to be published.

Leishmaniasis in the news

20 March 2013 | Geneva
Report of a WHO consultative meeting on developing a manual for case-management, prevention and control of post-kala-azardermal leishmaniasis. Kolkata, India, 2–3 July 2012.

30 May 2012 | Geneva
Leishmaniasis: epidemiology and access to medicines − an update based on the outcomes of WHO regional meetings, literature review and experts' opinion.

08 Dec. 2011 | Geneva
WHO and Gilead sign agreement for enhanced access to visceral leishmaniasis treatment

24 Jan. 2011 | Geneva
Now available: new WHO Technical Report Series on the control of the leishmaniases - TRS N°949

News archives

WHA Resolution

The WHA Resolution on the "Control of Leishmaniasis"
Full text

More information

Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases