Latin America confirms its commitment to eliminate congenital Chagas disease

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Latin America confirmed Wednesday its support for a new initiative to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of Chagas, a disease endemic to the region, but which is progressively spreading to various areas of the U.S., Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

The Latin American Initiative on Congenital Chagas, to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of the disease, is one of the four new cooperation proposals approved in the framework of the XXVII Ibero-American Summit, held in Andorra, according to a statement released Wednesday by the Ibero-American General Secretariat (Segib).

The proposal, which the governments of Argentina and Brazil promoted with the support of the Argentine foundation Mundo Sano, also has the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Evandro Chagas Institute of Brazil, and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).

“This is a big step because it contributes to making this disease more visible and placing it on the global agenda, in addition to complementing the efforts being made in the same direction by the WHO and PAHO together with other key players,” said Silvia Gold, President of Mundo Sano, a foundation that works to reduce the impact of neglected diseases, in a statement.

According to experts, Chagas, caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, is curable if treatment is started soon after infection.

However, in the chronic phase, the disease can lead to cardiac disorders or digestive or neurological alterations, or both, and eventually cause sudden death, which is why its prevention has become a priority.

According to PAHO, Chagas, of rural origin but with a growing urban presence, is 80% vector-borne (through the feces or urine of various types of bedbugs) and blood transfusions, food contamination, as well as from mother to child.

However, congenital transmission has increased the most in recent years.

The program “No baby with Chagas: the road to new generations free of Chagas disease” will focus precisely on reducing the vertical transmission of this tropical parasitic disease, of which there are an estimated 1.12 million women of childbearing age infected in Latin America and with which between 8,000 and 15,000 babies are born infected each year.

The goal is to ensure that all babies born with Chagas disease and women of childbearing age have access to timely diagnosis and treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission and reduce the consequences for those infected.

WHO data indicate that Chagas disease is endemic in 21 countries in the Americas and affects an estimated 6 million people.

However, 7 out of 10 people with Chagas disease are unaware that they have the disease due to the absence of clinical symptoms, and only 1% receive adequate care.

The initiative against Chagas disease is part of the documents approved at the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government in Andorra, whose joint declaration focused on health and the environment at a time marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.