Access to Essential Medicines: Ten Stories That Mattered in 2011

7. Drug Shortages Threaten Moves to Expand Treatment for Chagas Disease

New treatment programs for Chagas are being put on hold because of shortages of benznidazole, the main drug used to treat this neglected parasitic disease.

The shortages have been caused, among other factors, by a lack of planning for new production by LAFEPE, Brazil’s state-owned laboratory where benznidazole is manufactured. As a result, MSF has been forced to suspend plans to expand treatment for Chagas in Bolivia, the country hardest-hit, and also had to slow down screening patients for the disease in Paraguay for a period.

Photo: Bolivia 2011 © Vania Alves/MSF

In the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia, MSF provides medical assistance to patients up to 50 years old, promoting the inclusion of adult patients in the treatment of Chagas disease. This is a step forward in the fight against Chagas; until recently, it was thought that the treatment was only effective on very young children.

Bolivia 2009 © Anna Surinyach

Chagas is one of the neglected diseases included in our “Top 10 Humanitarian Crises of 2009” report. Learn more here.