Posts tagged Chagas

Paraguay: Standing up to Chagas: Slideshow Chagas is a neglected disease that affects between eight and ten million people, mainly in Latin America. MSF works in Paraguay’s rural Chaco region, going into isolated communities to educate people about the disease and screen them for it. Internationally, MSF fights to improve access to diagnosis and treatment for the disease and advocates for more research and development into its treatment.Photo:Paraguay 2012 © Anna Surinyach/MSF The first step in fighting Chagas is raising awareness amongst the population. The disease can remain asymptomatic for years, so many infected people do not know they are carrying it. MSF is working with health staff and community leaders throughout Chaco to explain what Chagas is to the population.

Paraguay: Standing up to Chagas: Slideshow

Chagas is a neglected disease that affects between eight and ten million people, mainly in Latin America. MSF works in Paraguay’s rural Chaco region, going into isolated communities to educate people about the disease and screen them for it. Internationally, MSF fights to improve access to diagnosis and treatment for the disease and advocates for more research and development into its treatment.

Photo:Paraguay 2012 © Anna Surinyach/MSF

The first step in fighting Chagas is raising awareness amongst the population. The disease can remain asymptomatic for years, so many infected people do not know they are carrying it. MSF is working with health staff and community leaders throughout Chaco to explain what Chagas is to the population.

Chagas in Paraguay: The Scourge of the Vinchuca

In Paraguay, MSF is covering the rural Chaco region, encouraging people to be tested and treated for Chagas, a widespread but little known and potentially fatal disease.

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

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.

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.