Unitaid and PATH partner to ensure babies are born free of preventable disease through new community and country led initiative

A unified response to a silent threat: tackling Chagas through integrated care  

Unitaid and the Government of Spain

PAHO and Unitaid strengthen partnership to eliminate communicable diseases from the Americas

Ahead of World Chagas Day, Unitaid reiterates its commitment to fighting Chagas disease

Unitaid announces new funding opportunities to support the elimination of vertical (mother-to-child) transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and Chagas disease

Proposals are welcomed until 12 March 2024

Women who have HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis, or Chagas can pass these diseases to their babies during pregnancy, childbirth, or while breastfeeding, making early detection and linkage to lifesaving treatment critical. Yet, in many low- and middle-income countries, there is limited access to vital tools and services to reach pregnant women with screening and treatment and prevent onward transmission.

Syphilis is the second leading cause of preventable stillbirth and a greater cause of child mortality than HIV. Hepatitis B can cause serious life-long illness if left untreated, and it is estimated that by 2030, 50% of all new chronic hepatitis B infections globally will be the result of vertical transmission. In Latin America where it is endemic, Chagas disease often goes undetected until it flares up later in life, causing serious heart or digestive complications. And despite reductions in HIV infections passed from mother to child, an estimated 740 children become infected with HIV every day – nearly 85% of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

An integrated ‘triple elimination’ approach is grounded in evidence demonstrating that linking interventions for HIV with services for other sexually transmitted infections like syphilis and hepatitis B improves uptake and is an efficient use of limited resources. However, there is limited evidence to guide optimal strategies for integrating services and, though tools and interventions are available, there are critical gaps in their use and implementation.

Unitaid is calling for proposals to drive the adoption of comprehensive and integrated programs to eliminate vertical transmission. This includes efforts to address the factors that limit access to new and underutilized diagnostic tools, effective treatments, and vaccines, and integrate these services within existing healthcare platforms, such as antenatal and postnatal care as well as at the community level.

Proposals should seek to:

  • Support countries to design and deploy integrated elimination programming and generate evidence for effective and scalable implementation models in diverse settings
  • Overcome market barriers that limit access to critical products, including availability and affordability challenges impacting tools for testing and treatment
  • Build demand for integrated elimination programs through people-centered and locally tailored roll-out approaches, including strong community engagement, advocacy and literacy activities

Through these programs, Unitaid aims to enable widespread access to a comprehensive package of care for women and newborns in low- and middle-income countries that improves health outcomes and advances disease elimination.

Find out more about this latest opportunity for funding here.


Convocatoria de Propuestas: Acelerar la demanda y adopción de herramientas y estrategias integradas de entrega de servicios para la eliminación de la transmisión vertical del VIH, sífilis, hepatitis B y Chagas en áreas endémicas.

Making Chagas a disease of the past by integrating it into primary health care

Geneva, 13 April 2023 – Ahead of World Chagas Day, 14 April, Unitaid reiterates its commitment to make Chagas a disease of the past. Deemed a “silent disease” because it can take decades for symptoms to appear, this illness affects up to 7 million people worldwide and can cause cardiac, neurological, and digestive problems if left untreated.

In Latin America, where it is endemic to 21 countries, Chagas disease is the leading cause of death from a parasite, ahead of malaria. Chagas disease, which had originally been observed in rural areas, has now also moved to urban settings in 44 countries spanning every continent, apart from Antarctica. Up to 75 million people live in areas of exposure, putting them at risk of infection. Detection rates are often very low in many countries. Only up to 10% of people living with the disease receive a diagnosis and 1% receive effective treatment.

In collaboration with regional and global health partners, Unitaid is working to prevent mother-to-child transmission and to improve access to affordable tests and treatments. Through projects like CUIDA Chagas and its partnership with the Pan American Health Organization, Unitaid seeks to identify better, shorter ways to test and treat Chagas disease, and advance the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of this neglected disease.

The CUIDA Chagas project is an innovative international initiative focusing on testing, treating, and caring for people affected by Chagas disease in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay. Through an approach that combines implementation and innovation, community engagement and market interventions, CUIDA Chagas seeks to contribute to the elimination of vertical transmission of the disease.

To address Chagas disease, it is essential that it be integrated into primary health care and that essential services reach people who need them. Cross-sectoral approaches are also needed, including universal health coverage, vector control, access to testing and treatment.

Unitaid calls upon the global health community and governments to make Chagas disease a priority and support ongoing efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission and improve access to tests and treatments. Together, by integrating it into primary health care and systematically screening mothers and babies, we can make Chagas a disease of the past.


About Unitaid

Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply, and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities including advanced HIV disease, cervical cancer, and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, co-leading with Wellcome the Therapeutics Pillar and participating in the Diagnostics Pillar. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.


Media contact:

For more information and media requests:

Maxime Paquin

Communications Officer

M: +41 79 516 56 00

paquinm@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid landscape report identifies new technologies and innovative delivery strategies that hold promise for reducing vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and Chagas

Geneva, Switzerland – 4 August 2022A new report examining the landscape of tools and interventions for preventing mother-to-child transmission, also known as vertical transmission, of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and Chagas, identifies several actionable opportunities to accelerate progress towards global elimination goals.

The report analyzes current challenges in eliminating this important route of transmission and outlines a number of new, emerging or underutilized products and interventions which could help expand access and overcome the public health and market challenges identified.

In addition, several service delivery innovations have the potential to facilitate more rapid, consistent, and equitable access to existing tools and strategies.

Expanding access to these innovative approaches and products as well as addressing product development gaps is critical to achieving the World Health Organization’s ‘Triple Elimination’ agenda, which seeks to encourage countries to pursue an integrated and coordinated approach to eliminating vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and in countries where it is endemic, Chagas disease.

 

About Unitaid

Unitaid is a global health agency engaged in finding innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases more quickly, cheaply, and effectively, in low- and middle-income countries. Its work includes funding initiatives to address major diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities including advanced HIV disease, cervical cancer, and hepatitis C, and cross-cutting areas, such as fever management. Unitaid is now applying its expertise to address challenges in advancing new therapies and diagnostics for the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a key member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, co-leading with Wellcome the Therapeutics Pillar and participating in the Diagnostics Pillar. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.


Media contacts:

Unitaid

Maggie Zander
Communications officer
M: +41 79 593 17 74
zanderm@unitaid.who.int