Screening and treatment for Chagas disease – technology and market landscape

Unitaid commemorates World Chagas Day with a new initiative to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease

  • Chagas disease affects between 6 and 7 million people worldwide and kills 10,000 people annually. In Latin America, it causes more deaths than any other parasitic disease including malaria. Patients infected with Chagas disease are at risk of severe COVID-19 manifestations.
  • At least two million women of child-bearing age are estimated to be chronically infected with Trypanosoma cruzi ( cruzi) and 5 to 10% of pregnant women with Chagas disease will transmit the infection to their new-borns.

Geneva – Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), Chagas disease currently affects between 6 and 7 million people worldwide and kills an estimated 10,000 people annually.

In Latin America where it is endemic, Chagas causes more deaths than any other parasitic disease including malaria. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 75 million people are at risk of infection, most of them among the poorest and most marginalized populations.

Despite high rates of morbidity and a high associated economic burden, only 7% of people with Chagas disease are diagnosed, and only 1% receive appropriate care. If left untreated, Chagas can cause serious heart and digestive complications. Patients infected with Chagas are also at risk of severe COVID-19 manifestations.

Mother-to-child transmission is a major infection route for Chagas transmission. In addition to vector control, active screening, and appropriate treatment options for women of childbearing age, their new-borns and their children could substantially limit congenital transmission and reduce the number of new infections. Importantly, early detection of infection in infants can reduce the number of hospitalizations and deaths related to Chagas disease.

As this week marks the commemoration of the second edition of World Chagas Disease Day 2021 (14th of April), Unitaid and the Ministry of Health of Brazil have come together to support a new US$ 19M joint initiative to improve access to affordable point-of-care diagnostics, better treatment, and comprehensive care for women and new-borns in four endemic countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Paraguay.

This initiative will be conducted through a close collaboration with regional and global partners such as the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and seeks to influence other countries in Latin America and beyond.

“Chagas disease continues to generate much suffering and death for thousands of people in Latin America, especially in the poorer countries and among the most vulnerable populations,” said PAHO Director Dr. Carissa F. Etienne. “Mother-to-child transmission of Chagas can be prevented. We hope that this new global initiative will significantly advance efforts to ensure that every child in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay is born free of Chagas disease.”

According to PAHO, in Latin America alone, 1.12 million women of childbearing age are infected, and between 8,000 to 15,000 infected babies are born each year.

“At least two million women of child-bearing age are estimated to be chronically infected with Chagas disease worldwide and about 5 to 10% of pregnant women will transmit the infection to their new-borns. By making appropriate diagnostics and improved treatments available for women and their children, we can save future generations from the possible fatal consequences of this insidious disease,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Unitaid Executive Director.

The project will be implemented by a consortium of partners [1]  led by the Fundação para o Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico em Saúde/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiotec/Fiocruz) based in Brazil.

“This important announcement brings us immense satisfaction, especially during these difficult times of pandemia. It confirms Fiocruz’s commitment to make the best of use science to improve people’s health,” said Nísia Trindade Lima, President of Fiocruz. “By the end of the project, we hope to deliver a replicable and validated model, that will not only contribute to prevent the transmission of the disease but will also lay the groundwork for a new era in care for people affected by Chagas disease.”

The project will include two clinical trials. One aimed at demonstrating the relevance of a rapid diagnostic test algorithm in real-life settings and another one seeking to evaluate the effectiveness of a shorter treatment regimen. If successful, these will reduce the time between screening, diagnosis, and treatment completion.

Additional interventions will also aim at strengthening supply chains and equitable access to potential life-saving products and developing a competitive and transparent market for diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease.

The evidence generated through the project will be leveraged to facilitate the adoption of feasible and cost-effective health tools and care for Chagas disease regionally and globally.

While most cases still occur in Latin America, the disease is increasingly spreading to other geographies. Cases now appear in places such as the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

[1]

  • Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz)
  • Instituto Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud “Néstor Morales Villazón” (INLASA) with United Nations
  • Development Programme (UNDP) (Bolivia) acting as Administrative Agent
  • Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) (Colombia)
  • Servicio Nacional de Erradicación del Paludismo (SENEPA) with Centro de Informacion y Recursos para el Desarrollo (CIRD) (Paraguay) acting as Administrative Agent
  • Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)

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Media contacts:

Maggie Zander, Unitaid, Geneva (FR/EN/ES/PT) – tel. +41 79 593 17 74, zanderm@unitaid.who.int

Hervé Verhoosel (FR/EN), Unitaid, Geneva – tel. +44 77 29 618 634, verhooselh@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid greets World Chagas Disease Day with new analysis, new plans

Geneva – Unitaid marked the first World Chagas Disease Day with the release of a comprehensive report on how to better confront the potentially deadly parasitic infection that strikes hardest among Latin America’s poor and marginalized.

It was on this date in 1909 that a Brazilian doctor, Carlos Chagas, diagnosed the first case of what was to be called Chagas disease.

Unitaid is also developing an initiative to help eliminate mother-to-child transmission of Chagas disease as part of its mandate to improve maternal, newborn and child health.

“Unitaid was created to speed equitable access to innovative health solutions, and we are thrilled to join global efforts against this insidious disease,” Unitaid Executive Director a.i. Philippe Duneton said. “Access to simpler and more affordable test and treat tools will help end the suffering Chagas causes, and cut costs for families and health systems.”

Unitaid’s work aligns with global health plans that call for eliminating Chagas disease as a public health problem by 2030.  Currently, only an estimated 7 percent of people with Chagas disease get diagnosed, and only 1 percent receive effective treatment.

Unitaid’s just-released report, Technology and Market Landscape for Chagas Disease, maps out the diagnostics and treatments that are in use now and identifies innovations that could improve upon them. The report also examines market barriers that could be removed to make way for better tests and treatments.

Unitaid’s upcoming investment to tackle mother-to-child transmission seeks to address some of these challenges, notably the lack of diagnostic tools and medicines in primary health care clinics. At least two million women of child-bearing potential are chronically infected with ‘Trypanosoma cruzi’, but active screening and optimal treatment can prevent transmission to their babies. In addition, early detection of infection in infants can greatly reduce the number of hospitalizations and deaths related to Chagas disease.

Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug, Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis), slowly brings on cardiac, neurological and digestive problems. Up to 7 million people are thought to be infected with it, 75 million people are considered to be at risk of infection and about 10,000 die from it annually. In Brazil, Chagas disease causes more deaths than any other parasitic disease, including malaria.

In the last decades, the disease has moved from the countryside to urban settings, and is now found outside the borders of the 21 Latin American countries where it is endemic. Cases now appear in places such as the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia.

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For more information: Gloria Vinyoles | 41 79 121 18 65 | vinyolesg@unitaid.who.int

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Unitaid seeks to support new approaches to tackle Chagas disease

Brasilia – Unitaid has launched a call for proposals for new projects that can help eliminate congenital infection of Chagas disease through better diagnosis and treatment, within the context of its work in maternal and child health. The new call reflects increased global attention and country commitment to fight Chagas disease.

Today’s announcement in Brazil puts a focus on fighting this neglected tropical disease that infects 6-7 million people and kills more than 10,000 each year. Worldwide, 75 million people are at risk of Chagas disease.

“Attacking this silent killer through early diagnosis and improved treatments will not only change the lives of women of child-bearing age by curing them of Chagas disease but also protect the future of millions of newborns by preventing the transmission from mother to child,” said Unitaid’s Executive Director Lelio Marmora.

Chagas is endemic to 21 Latin American countries, including Brazil, where it causes more deaths than any other parasitic disease, including malaria.

“Chagas disease infects millions of people in Brazil and in Latin America. The Government of Brazil welcomes this initiative and will collaborate closely with Unitaid to eliminate this neglected tropical disease,”said Brazil Minister of Health Dr. Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

While most cases occur in Latin America, often in the poorest and most marginalized communities, the disease is increasingly spreading to other geographies.

Mother-to-child transmission is a key infection route for Chagas disease, with at least two million women of child-bearing age estimated to be chronically infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease. Evidence has shown that active screening and optimal treatment can prevent congenital transmission. Furthermore, given the success of treatment in newborns, during prenatal or at-birth care, early detection of infection in infants is critical to preventing the number of hospitalizations and deaths related to Chagas disease.

The deadline to submit a proposal is 27th February 2020, at 17:00 Geneva time.

Through its calls for proposals, Unitaid finds smart new ideas to help relieve the burden of diseases, to break down access barriers, to enable scale-up by partner organizations and countries and to reach people in need. A review committee of independent experts in global health helps choose the best proposals to fund through a competitive selection process.

For media enquiries:

Priyamvada Chugh, chughp@unitaid.who.int

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