The resolution, "Chagas Disease: Control and Elimination", approved during the World Health Assembly last week, includes the integration of treatment and diagnosis at primary healthcare level for patients in both acute and chronic phases of the disease. This is a step in the right direction in the fight against the disease, which affects between 10 and 15 million people around the world, mostly in Latin America.
“This is an opportunity for the millions of Chagas patients. Now, the affected countries must receive the support they need so that national programs can implement the changes, so that patients have access to diagnosis and treatment”, says Gemma Ortiz, Neglected Diseases Senior Advocacy for MSF. “We hope that these written words are put into action”, adds Ortiz.
The resolution also includes key issues, such as the reinforcement of the provision of existing treatments in disease-endemic countries, with the aim of making access universal; and the promotion of operational research on the control of Chagas disease, in order to promote the development of a valid and accessible ‘test of cure’ – a test to verify if the treatment has worked.
However, the resolution approved by the WHA missed the opportunity to stress an important point: the need to promote alternative mechanisms of financing the research and development for better rapid diagnostic tests, new treatments and a test of cure.
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