“We are in a historic momentum to transform the lives of millions of people”

By Dr. Unni Karunakara, International President, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) In February, during a visit to Bolivia, I had the opportunity to tour the Chagas diagnosis and treatment project that Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) runs in Narciso Campero province, located in the rural area of Cochabamba, which has one of the highest prevalences of Chagas in the country. During my visit, I talked to both patients and MSF staff and they confirmed that, despite the challenges, diagnosis and treatment of people living in areas far from urban centers is possible. Paraguay 2012 © Seamus Murphy/VII Unfortunately, the experience in Narciso Campero is just a drop in the ocean when you consider the actual impact of Chagas disease: it is estimated that there are between eight and 10 million cases worldwide and that the disease causes the death of 12,500 people every year, making it one of the parasitic infections with the highest mortality rate in the American continent. In Bolivia, it is estimated that up to one million people are affected, and more than 3.2 million people are exposed to the disease in endemic areas. The situation is even more difficult for those patients who have developed heart or digestive complications due to the disease, since palliative care in these cases is expensive. Changing this scenario is only possible if governments of endemic countries commit to closing the significant gap between the number of peo...
Source: MSF News - Category: Global & Universal Tags: Opinion Source Type: news