World Chagas Disease Day

• The global community is preparing to celebrate 14 April as the first World Chagas Disease Day.

About:

• Chagas disease, also called American trypanosomiasis,has been termed as a “silent and silenced disease”, not only because of its slowly progressing and frequently asymptomatic clinical course but also because it affects mainly poor people who have no political voice or access to health care.

• Once endemic in Latin American countries, Chagas disease is now present in many others, making it a global health problem.

• Chagas disease is prevalent mainly among poor populations of continental Latin America and affects 6–7 million people.

• It was on this date in 1909 that the first patient, a Brazilian girl named Berenice Soares de Moura, was diagnosed with this disease by Dr. Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas.

Key highlights:

• One of the aims is to raise the visibility and public awareness of people with Chagas Disease and the resources needed for the prevention, control or elimination of the disease.

• Raising awareness and the profile of this neglected tropical disease, which is often diagnosed in its late stages, is essential to improve the rates of early treatment and cure, together with the interruption of its transmission.

• Evidence-based, cost-effective interventions exist, including screening (blood, organs and of new-borns and children), early case detection, prompt treatment of cases, vector control, hygiene, and food safety.

• WHO invites the countries to take action with us and add a global voice in favor of this and other neglected tropical diseases.