The World Health Organization (WHO) necessitates the development of new treatments for leishmaniasis in priority. The drawbacks of the available drugs for leishmaniasis being-

• They do not seem to be completely effective,
• Have parenteral administration
• Exhibit serious and common side effects. 

Miltefosine remains the only oral drug for leishmaniasis, but-

• It has shown resistance
• It is expensive  
• It is not available in many endemic countries. 

Thus, it is necessary to develop an oral medicine to solve many of the existing issues. A review investigated the therapeutic alternatives, previously studied, for the development of oral drugs for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.  

Administration of injectables remains the current treatment of leishmaniasis but it possesses many problems as- demanding patients to travel to health centers, hospitalization, and professional administration, non-favorable socio-economic conditions of patients etc. Thus, many researchers, in the past, have tried to evaluate the use of oral alternatives for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis, with main approaches being- obtaining new molecules, repositioning drugs, and new formulations of old drugs. The studies have found encouraging results but still demands more in vivo bioavailability and clinical trials.

Source: International Journal of Dermatology, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.15902