Community engagement and health education, activities from India 

VIKAS AGGARWAL: Community engagement, making communities aware of kala-azar and its symptom is one of the most important components of kala-azar elimination programme. Whenever we interact with communities, first of all, we have to ask the communities what they know already on kala-azar. Kala-azar is not a disease such as HIV/AIDS. Kala-azar is not a disease like leprosy, which has such a high social taboo. Kala-azar doesn’t have– fortunately – doesn’t have any social taboo attached to it. So communities will talk freely about kala-azar.

FEMALE SPEAKER: [TALKING TO COMMUNITY]..

VIKAS AGGARWAL: Ultimately it’s the disease which affects the communities. So what our efforts should lead to so communities reach the health care services at the right time and at the right place. Which is the main factor why still the burden of disease is so high, because a lot of time is wasted on seeking health care by a community member or a patient from various practitioners where the diagnosis is inappropriate or if treatment is not specific to kala-azar and that leads to high burden– economic burden on the relevant patient. So it’s very essential for us to ensure that patient reaches the health care services at the right time and at the right place.

All the efforts which we are making on kala-azar may go to waste if communities are not accepting and communities are not behaving in the manner which we want them to do.

FEMALE SPEAKER: [TALKING TO COMMUNITY]

VIKAS AGGARWAL: So the message which I would like to give to a health care practitioner on community engagement is that number one, select your community, number two, select your message, number three, be very specific.