A publication by the ECLIPSE team has been featured as a National Institute for Health and Care Research Alert article on their website. You can read it here.
ECLIPSE is a cross-faculty team, co-lead by Professor Lisa Dikomitis, a KMMS Professor of Medical Anthropology and Social Sciences. Professor Dikomitis recently gave a presentation at the Brazilian Association of Graduate Studies in Collective Health (ABRASCO) conference in Bahia, Brazil about their book and film made by communities in rural Bahia.
Professor Lisa Dikomitis also recently gave a keynote at the recent Annual Conference of the British Society of Parasitology, hosted at Keele University. She met with Catherine West, MP and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on NTDs.
In September, Catherine West MP, visited Keele University where she learnt about ECLIPSE – a five-year anthropological healthcare intervention programme which aims to empower people with cutaneous leishmaniasis in the most marginalised communities in Brazil, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease caused by the parasite (Leishmania) which is spread through the bite of a sand fly, leading to skin lesions on exposed parts of the body, which heal slowly and can leave life-long scars and serious disability or stigma.
It is estimated that between 600,000 to one million new cases of CL occur worldwide annually, with up to 40 million people suffering from the long-term, stigmatizing residual scarring associated with the disease. ECLIPSE is a partnership between Keele University (UK), Kent and Medway Medical School (UK), the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil), Mekelle University (Ethiopia), and Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, and is funded through a £4.6 million grant by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Aid.
ECLIPSE uses a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to gain in-depth understanding of patients’, communities’, and healthcare professionals’ experiences and views on the effects of CL on the daily lives of those affected, the barriers to seeking healthcare, obtaining accurate and early diagnosis, and receiving effective treatment. The insights gained inform the development of new interventions, including training packages for healthcare professionals and community education campaigns to increase disease awareness, increase early diagnosis and treatment uptake, improve quality of life, and reduce stigma and social isolation.
This research has been funded by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The photo featured above shows Professor Dikomitis and members of the ECLIPSE team in Brazil.