World Chagas Disease Day is observed annually across the world on April 14 to raise public awareness about Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T.cruzi).
- The theme of World Chagas Disease Day 2022 is “Finding and reporting every case to defeat Chagas disease.”
It is often termed “the silent or silenced disease,” as the infected majority have no symptoms or extremely mild symptoms.
- It primarily affects impoverished individuals who do not have access to health care or who do not have political power.
- The disease develops gradually and often goes unnoticed by the patient. Chagas disease, if left untreated, can cause serious heart and intestinal problems, as well as death.
Background:
The 72nd World Health Assembly decided in 2019 to establish World Chagas Disease Day, which will be observed annually on April 14th.
- 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.
The first-ever World Chagas Disease Day was celebrated on April 14, 2020.
- It was a key initiative to raise awareness of the impact of this Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD).
About Chagas Disease:
i.Chagas disease is largely found in endemic areas of 21 continental Latin American countries, where it is spread by people coming into touch with infected blood-sucking triatomine bugs’ faeces and/or urine (vector-borne transmission).
- It can also be spread through infected donor blood or blood products transfusions, congenital (mother-to-child) transmission during pregnancy or childbirth, infected donor organ transplants, and laboratory accidents.
ii.In past decades, the disease’s epidemiology pattern has evolved from rural to predominantly urban, owing to mass migration, urbanisation, and emigration.
- As a result, there has been an increase in the number of cases in Canada and the United States of America, as well as numerous European and African, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific countries.
iii. There are approximately 6-7 million people infected with Chagas disease worldwide, with 10,000 deaths, every year.
Featured activities of World Health Organisation (WHO):
i.The World Health Organisation has launched its road map for NTDs entitled “Ending the Neglect to Attain the Sustainable Development Goals: A Road Map for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021–2030”.
- According to this, the WHO has set a goal for the Chagas Disease in terms of healthcare access for the years 2021–2030: 75 percent antiparasitic treatment coverage of eligible cases.
ii.It has detected two most significant obstacles to expanding treatment coverage as detection of cases and their follow-up.
- To fight Chagas disease, the WHO is also focusing on a global world information and surveillance system.
About World Health Organisation (WHO):Â
Director-General – Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Establishment – 1948
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
