WHO calls for comprehensive and equitable access to healthcare for Chagas disease patients

World Chagas Disease Day took place on 14 April 2021, with the World Health Organization (WHO) calling for comprehensive and equitable access to health care and services for everyone affected by the disease. An estimated six-to-seven million people worldwide are infected by Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease. It is a chronic and potentially severe parasitic disease, which is mainly transmitted by contact with the faeces and urine of infected reduviid bugs.

Chagas disease remains a public health problem in several endemic areas of continental Latin America, where the burden on the health system is high. Over the past decades, Chagas disease has been detected in several countries outside Latin America, including the US, Canada, and in many European and some African, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific countries.

Further information and advice on Chagas disease is available on the TRAVAX (for health professionals) and fitfortravel (for the general public) websites.

Source: WHO, 14 April 2021