  Neglected tropical diseases (NTD), particularly vector-borne diseases (VBD),
account for a large proportion of the global disease burden, and their control
faces several challenges including diminishing human and financial resources
for those distressed from such diseases. Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL), the
second-largest parasitic killer in the world (after malaria) affects poor
populations in endemic countries and causes considerable cost to the affected
individuals and their society. Mathematical models can serve as a critical tool
for understanding the driving mechanisms of a NTD such as VL. The WHO promotes
integrated control programs for VL but this policy is not well supported by
systematic quantitative and dynamic evidence and so potential benefits of the
policy are limited. Moreover, mathematical models can be readily developed and
used to understand the functioning of the VL system cheaply and systematically.
The focus of this research is three-fold: (i) to identify non-traditional but
critical mechanisms for ongoing VL transmission in resource limited regions,
(ii) to review mathematical models used for other infectious diseases that have
the potential to capture identified factors of VL, and (iii) to suggest novel
quantitative models for understanding VL dynamics and for evaluating control
programs in such frameworks for achieveing VL elimination goals.
