The development comes as a major boost for the Nitish government, which is trying hard to eliminate this deadly disease caused by a parasite transmitted by a tiny sand fly.

Former Union health minister and chairman of the Kala-Azar Task Force in Bihar C.P. Thakur said the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a California-based Institute for One World Health and Switzerland-based Medecins Sans Frontieres would work for the elimination of kala azar in the state.

According to Thakur, the agencies would launch mass awareness campaigns and provide latest medicines and treatment for those suffering from the disease soon. Initially, the agencies reportedly decided to focus on the flood-prone districts of north Bihar, which are the most affected by the disease.

While the Gates Foundation and One World Health would jointly work in the districts of East Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur and Darbhanga. Medecins Sans Frontieres would work alone in Vaishali district.

Thakur informed that the Gates Foundation's senior programme officer Thomas P. Kanyok and One World Health programme director Helen Matzger already met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to express their keenness to work in the state.

Over 100,000 people, mostly the poor, are said to be suffering from the disease and hundreds have already died in the last one year.

Currently, 31 of the 38 districts in Bihar are in the grip of this disease.

Medically known as Visceral Leishmaniasis, kala azar is also known as the poor man's disease because it affects the poorest of the poor.