Control Measures Against Visceral Leishmaniasis in Brazil: Their Challenges

The visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has a wide geographic distribution, with 90% of its occurrence concentrated in six countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, South Sudan and Sudan. Dogs are the main reservoir in the VL transmission, not only for their close relationship and/or coexistence with men, but also for their immunological inability in responding to the disease successfully. For this reason, if there is no prevention and multidisciplinary control among the three government spheres, health agents, environmentalists, researchers and mainly the community’s awareness, we will not have an effective control against this infirmity. For this reason, through this review, we will show what are the principal measures proposed by the Surveillance Manual and Visceral Leishmaniasis Control, of the Ministry of Health in Brazil. According to the health policy in our country, the following are recommended for the visceral leishmaniasis control: the reduction of the phlebotominae population, dog euthanasia and health education activities. In view of all the ecologic and sociocultural problematic involved, the great challenge is to obtain a satisfactory outcome for the control of this disease with the support and involvement of the community, even before all the priorities which it encounters daily.