Our aim is to join efforts in Guatemala, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, and the United States, to eliminate Chagas disease as a public health problem.
In 2018, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada), the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC), Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and Mundo Sano Foundation (FMS), under the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), implemented the Project Alliances for the elimination of Chagas disease in Central America, starting with Guatemala.
The project, which has an integral approach and is based on the articulation of primary and secondary prevention components, has the general goal of contributing to the elimination of Chagas disease as a public health issue in the department of Jutiapa, the hotspot transmission area in Guatemala. In addition, efforts are made to generate evidence that supports the elimination of Chagas disease as a public health problem in other hotspots in the region.
The project includes surveillance actions and control of the local vector insect (Triatoma dimidiata), sanitary improvement of housing, and implementation of a network of laboratories to improve and ensure access to diagnosis and treatment of people in the affected areas, training of personnel that runs the surveillance program and vector control, and development of a Data Management Platform for entomological and epidemiological data.
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