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

Geneva, 12 April 2024 – Ahead of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid renews its commitment to fighting Chagas disease, an illness which can be life-threatening and affects up to 7 million people around the world.

Primarily endemic in Latin America, Chagas disease is the leading cause of death from a parasite, ahead of malaria. It is a neglected disease that is known as the “silent disease” because of its often-asymptomatic nature, which can delay diagnosis and treatment for decades.

In recent years, the spread of the disease has placed 75 million people at risk of infection. Despite this, detection and treatment rates remain critically low; only 10% of the people living with Chagas disease are diagnosed and only 1% receive an effective treatment.

Unitaid is at the forefront of the fight against Chagas. Through the Unitaid-funded CUIDA Chagas project and our partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), we seek to identify better, shorter ways to test and treat the disease, improve patient outcomes, and prevent the disease from being transmitted from mothers to their children.

In order to make Chagas a disease of the past, in line with the World Health Organization’s campaign, we urge the global health community to secure greater funding and support for early diagnosis and comprehensive follow-up care initiatives. Cross-sectoral approaches are also essential. These include universal health care, vector control and access to tests and treatment, in alignment with initiatives like the EMTCT Plus initiative towards the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of preventable diseases.

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Hervé Verhoosel

Head of Communications and Spokesperson

M: +33 6 22 59 73 54

verhooselh@unitaid.who.int

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.

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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 2022. A 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.

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Unitaid

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

Landscape of innovative tools and delivery strategies for eliminating vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and chagas in endemic areas

PAHO and Unitaid launch collaboration to advance the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of Chagas disease

Geneva/Washington – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Unitaid today launched a five-year, US$ 2.6 million partnership to scale-up regional and national efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of Chagas disease.

Chagas is a neglected tropical disease endemic to Latin America, where it kills more people than any other parasite-borne infection. The infection is caused primarily by a blood-sucking triatomine bug, but the disease can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one million women of childbearing age are estimated to be infected, resulting in up to 15,000 infants born with the disease each year.

“Chagas disease holds a significant burden for more than 6 million people in 20 endemic countries of the Americas, many of them women and newborns”, said Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, Director of PAHO. “With this partnership, we expect to foster and accelerate investments and commitments so that every child, everywhere in the region is born free of Chagas and the mothers living with the disease receive the treatment they need”.

The fight against Chagas disease is complicated by several factors including its multiple means of transmission, through insect bites but also from the blood of an affected person or even by consumption of contaminated food. It is also largely asymptomatic, causing affected persons to go without medical attention until developing chronic infection, which is more difficult to treat. A lack in efficient diagnostic tools, long and difficult treatment, and gaps in policy and funding pose additional challenges.

“With less than 10 percent of people infected with Chagas disease worldwide diagnosed, and even fewer treated, Unitaid seeks to fill an enormous gap that leaves women and infants at serious risk of infection,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid. “This first of its kind partnership between Unitaid and PAHO will ensure advances to Chagas-fighting tools can quickly become a reality for people across Latin America and beyond.”

The collaboration will leverage insights from another Unitaid-funded initiative, CUIDA Chagas, which aims to develop test, treat and care strategies that can be replicated in different countries and contexts. The project will determine the efficacy of new shorter treatment options for chronic Chagas disease, and validate ways to shorten the time needed for diagnosis.

PAHO will provide technical expertise to support the countries and institutions under the CUIDA Chagas project, namely, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay. The aim is to develop better ways to interrupt mother to child transmission of Chagas disease, and share key learnings and advances to benefit the entire region.

The PAHO and Unitaid partnership will amplify the impact of this work, ensuring that evidence directly informs policy guidance and quickly advances the wider use of more affordable point-of-care diagnostics, better counseling and treatment, and comprehensive care for women and newborns.

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/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as HIV co-infections and co-morbidities such as 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. Unitaid is hosted by the World Health Organization.

About PAHO

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) works to improve the health and well-being in countries of the Americas. Founded in 1902, it is the world’s oldest international public health agency and the specialized health agency of the Inter-American system. It also serves as the Regional Office of WHO for the Americas.

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World Chagas Day: Unitaid remains committed to improving access to testing and treatment to reduce mother-to-child transmission of Chagas  

Geneva – Up to seven million people worldwide are estimated to be infected with a disease that often presents no symptoms but can be life-threatening when left untreated. 

World Chagas Day, 14 April, raises awareness of this neglected disease, for which fewer than 10% of all those affected get diagnosed and only 1% receive appropriate care. 

Often referred to as a “silent disease” because it causes no or few symptoms, the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the critical need for increased screening, the lack of which poses a significant barrier to care for the 75 million people estimated to be at risk of infection.  

In Latin America, where it is endemic, Chagas disease causes more deaths each year than any other parasitic disease including malaria. Many of those at highest risk are among the poorest and most marginalized populations.   

Chagas disease is caused by the Trypanosoma crusi parasite, which is transmitted to humans through a bite from the triatomine insect, also known as the kissing bug. It can then be passed congenitally from mother to child, or through blood transfusion or organ donation. 

With more than a million women of childbearing age estimated to be infected with Chagas disease, preventing mother to child transmission is critical to slowing the spread of disease and averting illness. 

Global health agency Unitaid, jointly with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, has committed to improve access to affordable point-of-care tests, better treatment and comprehensive care for women and their infants. 

With systematic screening of women and babies, this work can substantially limit transmission and reduce the number of new infections each year, helping to avert more serious and costly health consequences later in life. 

In 30% of all people chronically infected, Chagas disease causes severe heart and gastrointestinal complications including stroke, heart attack and sudden death when left untreated. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) estimates that Chagas disease accounts for more than US$600 million in healthcare-related costs each year. 

Unitaid’s efforts, underway in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Paraguay, seek to demonstrate new approaches to testing, treatment and care for Chagas disease that will generate valuable evidence to facilitate the adoption of feasible and cost-effective health strategies for combatting Chagas disease across the region and globally. 

While most cases still occur in Latin America, the disease is increasingly spreading to other geographies. People have now been diagnosed with Chagas disease in 44 countries across the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Media contact:

For more information and media requests:

Maggie Zander

Communications officer

M: +41 79 593 17 74

zanderm@unitaid.who.int