Tackling the existing burden of infectious diseases in the developing world: existing gaps and the way forward

Zulfiqar A Bhutta; Rehana A Salam; Jai K Das; Zohra S Lassi

doi:10.1186/2049-9957-3-28

Tackling the existing burden of infectious diseases in the developing world: existing gaps and the way forward

Infect Dis Poverty. 2014 Aug 1:3:28. doi: 10.1186/2049-9957-3-28. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Zulfiqar A Bhutta¹, Rehana A Salam², Jai K Das², Zohra S Lassi²

Affiliations

¹ Center of Excellence in Women & Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan ; Center for Global Child Health Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
² Division of Women and Child Health, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

Abstract

This series evaluates the effectiveness of community-based interventions (CBIs) to prevent and control infectious diseases of poverty (IDoP). Evidence from our reviews suggests that CBIs and school-based delivery platforms are effective in averting risk behaviors and reducing the disease burden. Co-implementation of interventions through existing community-based programs including immunization campaigns, antenatal care and maternal and child health programs have the potential to scale-up interventions for IDoP. Future research should focus on the process of developing and implementing efficient community-based programs through a comprehensive approach, and to gauge the effectiveness of various existing delivery models in order to improve morbidity and mortality outcomes.

Keywords: Community platforms; Community-based interventions; HIV/AIDs; Infectious diseases of poverty; Malaria; Neglected tropical diseases; Tuberculosis.