FROM THE FIELD
MSF has been working in projects fighting Chagas disease since 1999. Currently, the organisation is working in three districts on the outskirts of Cochabamba, in Bolivia, the country registering the highest Chagas prevalence worldwide. Activities are carried out in collaboration with the Bolivian Ministry of Health and integrated to five primary healthcare centres, where children and adults up to 50 years of age are diagnosed and treated.
Using the same approach, the organization is currently setting up a new project in the rural zone of Cochabamba region, where it is working to involve the communities in all aspects of the strategy (prevention, diagnosis and treatment), in an area where the vector is much more prevalent.
At the end of 2008, MSF had tested over 60,000 people for Chagas, treating 3,100 patients, of whom 2,800 successfully completed their treatment. This shows that, even though the current means are not ideal, diagnosing and treating Chagas in limited resource settings and remote areas is feasible.
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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
