ECLIPSE project, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka officially launched a tratditional ‘Kolama’ for Leishmaniasis awareness on the 1st of December 2022 at the Lake Forest, Anuradhapura, and was webcast live.
ECLIPSE-Sri Lanka offered the first glimpse into a novel effort to blend the traditional arts with the modern healthcare needs of our communities. Extensive community-based approaches revealed the many tales of cutaneous leishmaniasis in rural Sri Lanka, which were woven into the story enacted here as a culturally appealing form of art, ‘Kolam’. The entire project cycle focused on community engagement and involvement for selecting the ‘Kolam’ approach, deciding its content and its cultural adaptation, designing an impactful health intervention, and showcasing the role of theatre in global health needs.
ECLIPSE: “Empowering people with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: Intervention Programme to improve the patient journey and reduce Stigma via community Education” is a global health programme funded by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), a major collaboration between researchers in the UK, Brazil, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka. ECLIPSE represents a flagship interdisciplinary project combining expertise in medical anthropology, parasitology, and applied healthcare research to tackle a highly prevalent stigmatizing skin condition, Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.
The ‘Kolama’ launch event held on 01.11.2022 at the Lake Forest, Anuradhapura, was a great success, and was organised by the ECLIPSE-Sri Lanka team members led by Senior Professor Suneth Agampodi, and was graced by the presence of the Vice-Chancellor and the Deans of the faculties of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (RUSL), academic staff of the Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, RUSL, Provincial Health Secretary – North Central Province (NCP), Provincial Director of Health Services – NCP, Regional Director of Health Services, and other provincial administrative and public health officers, community advisory group members representing communities from leishmaniasis endemic areas in Anuradhapura district, and many others from across the island and globe joining live online.
