{"id":2929,"date":"2019-05-24T10:10:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T09:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/following-110-years-of-neglect-the-world-health-assembly-declares-an-official-day-for-chagas-disease\/"},"modified":"2021-04-30T19:18:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T18:18:26","slug":"following-110-years-of-neglect-the-world-health-assembly-declares-an-official-day-for-chagas-disease","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/following-110-years-of-neglect-the-world-health-assembly-declares-an-official-day-for-chagas-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Following 110 years of neglect, the World Health Assembly declares an official day for Chagas disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[Spanish version below]<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Delegates at the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) have today approved the creation of a World Chagas Day. People affected by Chagas worldwide celebrate this important step in fighting for recognition of this neglected disease.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Geneva, 24 May 2019 &#8211; The <a href=\"http:\/\/findechagas.org\/home-en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">International Federation of People Affected by Chagas Disease (FINDECHAGAS)<\/a> today celebrates the establishment of a <strong>World Chagas Day<\/strong> at the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>The Federation has for many years celebrated 14 April\u00a0as a non-official day dedicated to people living with Chagas Disease, and has called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to recognise it as an official WHO day. On this day, 110 years ago, the Brazilian doctor Carlos Chagas diagnosed the disease for the first time in a little girl called Berenice Soares. The establishment of a World Chagas Day is key to raising awareness of this neglected disease and the challenges that people living with Chagas experience.\u00a0The decision will be ratified at the WHA plenary next Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left\">\u201cPeople affected by Chagas disease and our families have suffered from the silence and invisibility that has surrounded this disease for over a century,\u201d said Elvira Hern\u00e1ndez, from the Mexican Association of People Affected by Chagas disease, AMEPACH. \u201cThe approval of a World Chagas Day will help break this silence, but there is still a long way to go. It is important to improve access to diagnostics and treatment, but also to implement information, education and communication activities to increase awareness of the disease among medical staff and within the wider community. Now, more than ever, we need the support of all the oganisations and countries that have helped us to achieve this.\u201d<\/h4>\n<p>Chagas Disease, which is endemic in 21 countries in Latin America, but present in many others, has become a global health problem affecting more than six million people worldwide. Chagas Disease kills at least 7,000 people every year. It is caused by the parasite\u00a0<em>Trypanosoma cruzi<\/em>\u00a0(<em>T. cruzi<\/em>) and transmitted by insects known as \u201ckissing bugs\u201d. The disease can also be transmitted from an infected mother to a child, through blood transfusion or by food contaminated with the vector.\u00a0 If left untreated, Chagas can cause irreversible damage to the heart and other vital organs, and lead to death.<\/p>\n<p>The inclusion of World Chagas Day in the global health agenda may help to attract international attention to Chagas and mobilize resources to increase access to diagnostics and treatment for those affected, as has been the case with other diseases.<\/p>\n<p>On 14 April this year, FINDECHAGAS launched an online petition in support of World Chagas Day, and delivered it to the World Health Assembly this week together with more than 10,000 signatures from people worldwide.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left\">\u201cThe more than 20 civil society associations from Europe and the Americas that are part of FINDECHAGAS would like to thank the vote by the member states gathered at the WHA in Geneva,\u201d\u00a0said Hern\u00e1ndez. \u201cWe also thank all those people who have supported us and signed our petition, adding their voices to ours and demanding official recognition of this day.\u201d<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">Tras 110 a\u00f1os de olvido, se declara un d\u00eda mundial oficial para la enfermedad de Chagas<\/h1>\n<p><strong><em>Los delegados en la Asamblea Mundial de Salud aprobaron hoy la creaci\u00f3n del Dia Mundial de Chagas. Las personas afectadas por la enfermedad celebran este paso importante para combatir la desatenci\u00f3n que han sufrido.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>La Federaci\u00f3n Internacional de Asociaciones de Personas Afectadas por la Enfermedad de Chagas (FINDECHAGAS) celebr\u00f3 hoy, en la 72\u00aa Asamblea Mundial de la Salud en Ginebra, Suiza, la\u00a0creaci\u00f3n del D\u00eda Mundial de Chagas. Desde hace a\u00f1os, la federaci\u00f3n viene conmemorando el 14 de abril como un d\u00eda no oficial dedicado a las personas afectadas por la enfermedad y ha pedido a la Organizaci\u00f3n Mundial de la Salud que lo haga oficial. En aquel d\u00eda, hace 110 a\u00f1os, el doctor brasile\u00f1o Carlos Chagas realiz\u00f3 el primer diagn\u00f3stico de la infecci\u00f3n a una ni\u00f1a, llamada Berenice Soares. La creaci\u00f3n del d\u00eda mundial es una medida importante para aumentar la visibilidad sobre la enfermedad. La decisi\u00f3n ser\u00e1 ratificada en plenaria en el pr\u00f3ximo martes. DNDi junto a las asociaciones de pacientes representantes de la FINDECHAGAS y a la Coalici\u00f3n Global de Chagas, apoya la creaci\u00f3n del Dia Mundial de Chagas<\/p>\n<h4>\u201cMuchos familiares y personas afectadas hemos sufrido el silencio y la invisibilidad que ha rodeado a esta enfermedad por m\u00e1s de un siglo\u201d, coment\u00f3 Elvira Hern\u00e1ndez, de la asociaci\u00f3n mexicana que preside Findechagas. \u201cLa aprobaci\u00f3n del d\u00eda Mundial ayudar\u00e1 a\u00a0romper ese silencio. Pero a\u00fan nos queda mucho camino por recorrer, no s\u00f3lo en mejoras de acceso al diagn\u00f3stico y tratamiento, sino en acciones de informaci\u00f3n, educaci\u00f3n y comunicaci\u00f3n para aumentar el conocimiento sobre la enfermedad tanto a los profesionales sanitarios como a la comunidad en general. Ahora necesitamos m\u00e1s que nunca el apoyo de todas las organizaciones y pa\u00edses que nos han acompa\u00f1ado para llegar a este d\u00eda\u201d.<\/h4>\n<p>La enfermedad de Chagas, end\u00e9mica en 21 pa\u00edses de Am\u00e9rica Latina, pero presente en muchos pa\u00edses del mundo, se ha convertido en un\u00a0problema de salud global\u00a0que afecta m\u00e1s de 6 millones de personas y causa por lo menos 7.000 muertes anuales. Causada por el par\u00e1sito\u00a0<em>Trypanosoma ruzi,\u00a0<\/em>la enfermedad<em>\u00a0se\u00a0<\/em>transmite por la picadura de un insecto (que tiene nombres como \u201cpito\u201d o \u201cvinchuca\u2019), de una madre infectada a su beb\u00e9, por donaci\u00f3n de sangre o ingesti\u00f3n de alimentos y bebidas contaminadas. Si no se trata, la enfermedad puede causar da\u00f1os al coraz\u00f3n y \u00f3rganos vitales y llevar a la muerte.<\/p>\n<p>La inclusi\u00f3n de este d\u00eda mundial en la agenda de salud global puede contribuir, como se ha observado en el caso de otras enfermedades, a aumentar la\u00a0atenci\u00f3n internacional, as\u00ed como a movilizar voluntades y recursos suficientes de modo que se pueda aumentar el acceso a diagn\u00f3stico y tratamiento para las personas afectadas.<\/p>\n<p>Desde el 14 de abril de este a\u00f1o, FINDECHAGAS puso en marcha una recogida de firmas online y entreg\u00f3 a la Asamblea\u00a0miles de firmas de apoyo\u00a0recibidas en estas \u00faltimas semanas para la declaraci\u00f3n del d\u00eda mundial.<\/p>\n<h4>\u201cLas m\u00e1s de 20 asociaciones de la sociedad civil de Europa y Am\u00e9rica que forman parte de FINDECHAGAS\u00a0agradecen el voto a favor de los pa\u00edses miembros de la OMS, reunidos en la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud en Ginebra\u201d, manifest\u00f3 Elvira Hern\u00e1ndez. \u201cAgradecemos tambi\u00e9n a todas las personas que nos apoyaron y firmaron nuestra petici\u00f3n, a\u00f1adiendo sus voces a las nuestras y pidiendo el reconocimiento oficial de este d\u00eda\u201d, apunt\u00f3 Hern\u00e1ndez.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Spanish version below] Delegates at the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) have today approved the creation of a World Chagas Day. People affected by Chagas worldwide celebrate this important step in fighting for recognition of this neglected disease. Geneva, 24 May 2019 &#8211; The International Federation of People Affected by Chagas Disease (FINDECHAGAS) today celebrates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2930,"template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"event":[],"project-campaign":[],"topic":[257],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Following 110 years of neglect, the World Health Assembly declares an official day for Chagas disease - World Heart Federation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/following-110-years-of-neglect-the-world-health-assembly-declares-an-official-day-for-chagas-disease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Following 110 years of neglect, the World Health Assembly declares an official day for Chagas disease - World Heart Federation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Spanish version below] Delegates at the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) have today approved the creation of a World Chagas Day. 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