Under the theme “Unite. Act. Eliminate”, the World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Day is celebrated on January 30. NTDs are a group of 20 diverse diseases that can be prevented and treated, affecting more than 1,650 million people worldwide. These diseases prevail in the poorest areas of the world, where availability of safe water and sanitation, and access to health care are deficient.
One of the NTDs is Chagas, a disease that affects 6 to 8 million people in the world and that causes more than 12,000 deaths a year. This disease is endemic in 21 countries of the Americas and is highly prevalent in Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Regarding the areas considered non-endemic, the disease is present in all the continents, with the USA and Spain being the countries with the highest number of affected people.
«The most suitable path towards the reduction of the impact of NTDs is the strengthening of the health systems and their inclusion in the activities conducted to favour access to health care of vulnerable people. It is important to remember that NTDs are entirely preventable, and in case they are not prevented, they are largely treatable», states Marcelo Abril, executive officer of Mundo Sano Foundation, member of Uniting to Combat NTDs and technical secretary of the Not a Single Baby with Chagas Disease Ibero-American Initiative.
The initiative «Not a Single Baby with Chagas Disease: the Path towards New Generations Free of Chagas Disease» was approved at the Ibero-American summit of Heads of State and Government held in Andorra in 2021. On that occasion, the Ibero-American countries that are committed to international cooperation in health and, specifically, to people affected by Chagas disease, joined with the aim to contribute to the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of this disease from a multidimensional approach, strengthening the health systems in terms of prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of Chagas disease, with emphasis on women of childbearing age, pregnant women and new-borns.
«This initiative, developed in the framework of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), strengthens the capacities of the member countries, promoting cooperation for the control of Chagas disease», states Martín Rivero, Coordinator of the Social Cohesion Area of SEGIB. Likewise, Rivero says: «It is an example of horizontal cooperation among the countries participating in the Ibero-American space, which is allowing us to give visibility, promote actions and facilitate the exchange of experiences and practices in the approach to Chagas disease. This joint regional action will be a key factor to the elimination of the still existing barriers to access to health services and systems».
In 2024, the Initiative proposes focusing on territorial interventions that provide access to diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease to a population estimated in 5.5 million people, of which 1.2 million are women of childbearing age, and about 87,800 babies born annually. These populations are located in the following areas, among others: Chaco, Santiago del Estero and Salta (Argentina), Manaos, Barcelos and Carauari (Brazil), Santander, Tolima and Cundinamarca (Colombia); Jalapa and Chiquimula (Guatemala); and Puerto Casado in Alto Paraguay (Paraguay).
About the World Neglected Tropical Disease Day
The date, which commemorates the presentation of the London Declaration on NTDs signed in 2012, asks governments and world leaders to act together and invest in neglected tropical diseases in order to put people and communities in the centre of the responses, generate collective action and make the necessary resources available to meet the targets described in the WHO 2030 NTD road map and SDG3.
The targets include the elimination of at least one disease in 100 countries and the reduction of the number of people needing interventions for NTDs by 90%.
Since 2012, 50 countries have eliminated at least one NTD, showing that it is possible to make progress. In 2020, 600 million fewer people needed interventions against NTDs than in 2010. However, for some time, the lack of resources has been considered an important barrier to the control, elimination and eradication of NTDs. This challenge has only been intensified by COVID-19, since NTD programmes have been severely delayed or interrupted, and resources have been largely repurposed or diverted.
About the Ibero-American Initiative
The Ibero-American Initiative “Not a Single Baby with Chagas Disease” includes Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay as full adhering countries. Other participating organizations are the International General Secretariat (SEGIB) as a support platform to Ibero-American programmes and initiatives, Mundo Sano Foundation (Technical Unit of the Initiative), the National Centre for Microbiology of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III de España (Carlos III Health Institute in Spain), as well as representatives of countries that participate in the advisory committee, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
The initiative works with the leadership of the Ministries of Health of the participating countries, which promote intersectoral coordination actions with institutions and partners with known experience in this topic. In addition, the Initiative has formed working networks as well as networks of Ibero-American experts to systematize good practices and experiences; these networks develop actions to raise awareness about this disease and make it visible in a transversal and inclusive way in the different intervention environments.