On Wednesday July 22, Mundo Sano Foundation participated in the webinar organized along with United Nations in Argentina: “The importance of addressing a communicable disease in the COVID-19 context: Chagas and pregnancy, the challenge of protecting the new generations”.
The webinar included the presentations of Dr Silvia Gold, President of Mundo Sano Foundation, and Dr Tamara Mancero, Communicable Diseases, Health Emergencies and Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health PAHO/WHO consultant in Argentina. Tamar Hahn, Director of the United Nations Information Centre for Argentina and Uruguay (UNIC), was the moderator.
During the meeting, both participants highlighted the importance of strengthening the health systems and services with the aim of protecting the most vulnerable ones, those sectors of society that are mainly affected by neglected diseases, and ensuring the continuity of the assistance of women of childbearing age in order to facilitate their access to health services, which may be at risk in the current health emergency situation we are undergoing.
In this regard, Dr Gold stressed that “neglected diseases must continue to be in the minds of the family doctors, at the primary health care level, even in the COVID-19 context”; at the same time, she assured that “in this context, rescuing neglected diseases from oblivion is more difficult but not impossible.”
Dr Mancero stated that “countries are making difficult decisions to weigh the demand for response to the pandemic against the need to maintain essential services”, and highlighted the need that “health programmes make an effort to avoid interrupting treatment of neglected infectious diseases.”
Finally, both participants stressed the importance of strengthening the public-private partnership to work from an intersectorial approach and with a vision of a health system focused on people, their families, communities and environment.
