Empowering people with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: Intervention Programme to improve patient journey and reduce Stigma via community Education (ECLIPSE)

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) represents a major public health burden for people in the poorest communities of many low and middle income countries (LMICs). CL is one of the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases, both in terms of research investment and in health policies that improve patient outcomes. There are no vaccines or prophylactic drugs available for disease control and no current WHO targets to eliminate CL. We propose ECLIPSE: a transatlantic, cross-cultural applied healthcare programme underpinned by a syndemics conceptual framework, which aims to achieve a significant improvement in the physical and mental health outcomes of people with CL and to empower affected communities through increasing disease awareness and reducing stigma in Brazil, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. The ECLIPSE programme has 6 overarching aims: 1) IMPROVE PATIENT OUTCOMES AND EMPOWER COMMUNITIES To co-develop, implement and evaluate two interventions (community education campaigns and training packages for healthcare workers) in each LMIC 2) FOSTER CROSS-CULTURAL LEARNING THROUGH ECLIPSE PARTNERSHIP To establish the transcontinental ECLIPSE consortium and carry out the 4-year applied health programme, which will enhance rapid international knowledge mobilisation 3) INFLUENCE HEALTH POLICY To recommend policy changes that address gaps in public health provision related to CL identified through the ECLIPSE research and influence implementation of these recommendations through the ECLIPSE Policy Network. 4) ACQUIRE NEW KNOWLEDGE ON CL To produce a comprehensive biopsychosocial model of CL embedded in the syndemics theoretical framework in three LMICs and to widely disseminate results and policy recommendations 5) DEVELOP SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE INTERVENTIONS To ensure sustainability of interventions through collaboration with a wide range of CL constituents (including patients, community stake holders, healthcare practitioners and policy makers) who have the ability and motivation to advocate for the routine implementation of ECLIPSE interventions and recommend new strategies in CL-endemic regions at national and international level. 6) APPLIED HEALTH AND CL RESEARCH CAPACITY BUILDING To establish a cohort of 18 Early Career Researchers and ensure their onward employability and retention through a robust interdisciplinary training and mentorship programme, in addition to enhancing leadership skills of senior ECLIPSE researchers to sustain the newly formed research groups These six aims will be achieved through six interlinked workpackages (WPs): WP1: Establish ECLIPSE research hubs (M1-12) 12 months WP2: Understanding local CL syndemics (M9-24) 16 months WP3: Developing and piloting ECLIPSE interventions (M16-30) 15 months WP4: Implementation of ECLIPSE interventions (M24-45) 21 months WP5: Process and impact evaluation (M4-48) 45 months WP6: Community and public involvement (M1-48) 48 months These WPs are underpinned by social scientific qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including ethnographic, creative and participatory methods collaborating closely with community members and key stakeholders through Communities of Practice and Community Advisory Groups. The ECLIPSE partnership has the potential to achieve significant impact on (1) the daily lives of people with CL in underserved areas, (2) the routine practices of healthcare professionals in CL-endemic regions, (3) the understanding of how policies and devolved governance affect health and wellbeing of local communities and (4) research investment in CL.