To fulfil the target of elimination of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL, or kala-azar) in Bangladesh by 2025, it is crucial to systematically track patients from detection to treatment. In Bangladesh, the existing mechanism for capturing cases of VL and Post Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL), is labour-intensive and inefficient.

In response to this need, the Ministry of Health requested support for the development of a system to capture the data for VL & PKDL and the Kala-azar mobile application was born. This tool aims to increase the efficiency of data collection, reduce the burden on surveillance workers, and aid decision-makers to make evidence-based decisions on where to strengthen their health capacity by looking at the data at a glance.

The resulting product is an intuitive mobile application in which users can insert case and manage data for assessment, referral, and monitoring. The tool promotes the continuous cycle of data; from data insertion of suspected patients, to referral for testing, to progress monitoring through effective follow-up and reporting. To inform the development of the application, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with community health workers in the endemic areas.

To learn more about the process of building the Kala-azar app, a collaboration between Ascend and Dnet, read the learning brief below and access the VL App User Manual.

The app can be downloaded in the Google App Store here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dnet.vltracker