PURPOSE: The World Health Organization established April 14th as World Chagas Disease Day and called for equitable access to health care and services for everyone affected by the disease. It was first held on April 14, 2020, following approval and endorsement by the World Health Assembly at WHO in May 2019. The day aims to raise awareness of the reality of people living with Chagas and its consequences, in order to achieve the goal set by WHO member countries by 2030, as stated in the Roadmap for Neglected Diseases: Elimination of Chagas as a public health problem.
FORUM: “Women at the heart: protecting the next generation from Chagas disease” World Chagas Disease Day 2026. This year’s observance will underscore the key role women play in family and community caregiving, as well as their greater interaction with health services, particularly during pregnancy. Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is primarily transmitted by triatomine insect vectors, although it can also spread through oral transmission, blood transfusion, and mother-to-child. It may be asymptomatic in its early stages and but can lead to severe cardiac and digestive complications years or even decades later. According to the PAHO data, in the 21 endemic countries of the Americas, approximately 7.5 million people are living with the infection, more than 100 million are at risk, and around 30,000 new cases and 10,000 related deaths are reported each year. The disease also represents a significant economic burden, with an estimated annual cost of $500 million and the loss of approximately 770,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).Demographic changes and migration have increased the importance of non-vector transmission, particularly mother-to-child transmission. It is estimated that between 2% and 8% of infected pregnant women transmit the parasite to their babies, resulting in around 9,000 new cases each year through this route. Congenital transmission represents one of today’s main challenges, but also a key opportunity for effective intervention. Strengthening screening in maternal and child health services and ensuring access to diagnosis and treatment are essential to break the cycle of transmission. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #14April, #Healthequity, #WorldChagasDiseaseDay.
EVENTS: On Tuesday, April 14th to mark the World Chagas Disease Day 2026, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Global Chagas Coalition called for strengthening the response to this disease and highlighted the role of women in early detection, prevention, and care. To advance toward elimination, PAHO and the Global Chagas Coalition emphasize the importance of expanding access to early diagnosis and timely treatment—especially for women of reproductive age—integrating screening into maternal and child health programs, strengthening primary health care, and promoting sustained public policies and intersectoral coordination. The PAHO, its Member States, and strategic partners such as the Global Chagas Coalition continue to work together to raise awareness and promote a collective response under the principle of leaving no one behind. Congenital Chagas disease is part of PAHO’s Elimination Initiative, which aims to eliminate more than 30 diseases and related conditions in the Region of the Americas by 2030. Within this framework, countries are working to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment, with the goal of curing 90% or more of newborns infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. Register to participate!
WEBINARIO: Hoy es 14 de abril, Dia Mundial del Chagas 2026, y salimos todas y todos a reafirmar nuestros compromisos por un futuro libre de enfermedad de Chagas. Este año las asociaciones destacan el papel fundamental que desempeñan las mujeres en la lucha contra esta Enfermedad Tropical Desatendida (ETD): "Las mujeres en el centro de la atención: protegiendo a la próxima generación de la enfermedad de Chagas" Por eso hemos querido hablar con algunas de las mujeres más destacadas de la comunidad de Chagas, para que nos cuenten su experiencia a este respecto desde las disciplinas en que contribuyen a la mejoría de las personas afectadas y al objeto final de acabar con la enfermedad de Chagas como problema de salud pública. Además, por cortesía de BeatChagas, estrenamos durante la sesión el nuevo spot de la campaña "Yo visto la camiseta del Día Mundial de la Enfermedad de Chagas 2026" (Ponte La Camiseta), una producción de BeatChagas en Colaboración con la OMS para la celebración del Día Mundial.
STATEMENTS: “Eliminating Chagas disease as a public health problem requires placing women at the center of diagnosis, treatment, and care strategies,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. “Ensuring timely access to quality health services, particularly for women of reproductive age, is essential to prevent new infections and advance toward the elimination of congenital Chagas disease in the Region of the Americas,” he added.
Read the Statement of the Director-General of the WHO on World Chagas Disease Day 2026; April 14th.
“The role of women in the fight against Chagas must not and should not translate into an additional burden or exclusive responsibility for them,” said organizations from the Secretariat of the Global Chagas Coalition. “On the contrary, it represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen more equitable, accessible, and responsive health systems that recognize and respect women’s needs.”
PODCASTS: It is important to share the Information, education and communication initiatives to defeat Chagas disease. The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), is a global programme of scientific collaboration that helps facilitate, support and influence efforts to combat diseases of poverty. Listen to the audio-podcasts!
CAMPAIGN MATERIALS: At present, people living in 44 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania have been diagnosed with Chagas. Let’s help patients to get diagnosis, treatment free or charge and revitalize our commitment to eradicate the disease by 2030. Get the campaign materials!
WHY WE CELEBRATE THE DAY?
People living in an area extending from the southern United States to southern Argentina are exposed to this parasite. A quarter of the population of Latin America is at risk of contracting Chagas disease. Brazil is the largest endemic country for this parasitic infection, accounting for 40% of disease prevalence. The risk of infection is strongly linked to socio-economic conditions. However, the parasite can also be transmitted by blood transfusions, during pregnancy, and by organ transplants.
We celebrate the World Chagas Disease Day to find the way to eradicate and eliminate the disease. Every year, around 9,000 new cases of T. cruzi infections in Latin American and the Caribbean are estimated to occur because of mother to child transmission. Chagas disease is responsible for productivity losses and estimated annual costs of 1.2 billion USD in Latin America. Several times this sum is spent on medical costs for treating individuals who develop severe heart or gastrointestinal disease. Every year, private and public funds are required for research on neglected parasitic diseases including Chagas disease.
The WHO have pointed to between 6 and 7 million people with the infection, more than 70 million at risk, and more than 12,000 deaths annually. Most of the people affected live in endemic areas of 21 Latin American countries, but there are estimates of very high numbers in other countries with close and migration links, such as the United States and Spain. The PAHO seeks to end more than 30 diseases and conditions by 2030. Join the “Disease Elimination Initiative: Towards Healthier Generations.”!
We thanks health institutions, universities, Medical research centres, organizations and foundations for their prompt support.
ACTIONS
Aside from vector control through insecticides, there are no means of controlling Chagas disease, no effective treatment for chronic forms, and no vaccine.
The Key strategies to prevent Chagas disease include vector control (in Latin America); blood screening prior transfusion and transplantation; testing and treating girls, women of reproductive age, newborns and siblings of mothers with infection; and information, education and communication for communities and health professionals.
Raising awareness of the disease is essential to improve the rates of early treatment and cure, together with the interruption of its transmission.
Most patients, either in the acute and chronic phase, present no symptoms and detection and follow-up can actually be done at primary healthcare level.
The first level of care (primary healthcare) is very different in different countries or territories, but all health professionals working there (physicians, nurses, nursing technician, social workers, community health workers, lab technicians…) can be equally important, from case detection to follow-up, going through treatment and prevention of transmission, disease and complications.
By sharing our experience, knowledge and capacity for action—we hope to achieve the goal of alleviating the human suffering caused by Chagas disease and, ultimately, controlling the disease once and for all.
The DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative) set up in 2003 to tackle neglected diseases such as Chagas disease includes the Institut Pasteur, the Indian Council of Medical Research (India), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Brazil), the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Malaysian Ministry of Health. These partners collaborate closely with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank, and the WHO Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR) on researching new drugs.
PARTNERSHIPS
The proposal for a World Chagas Disease Day; 14 April was instituted by the PAHO/WHO; The International Federation of Associations of People Affected by Chaga's disease, the Chagas Disease Coalition the Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health Center - PANAFTOSA, the Latin American Center of Perinatology, Women and Reproductive Health - CLAP/WR and supported by the PAHO/WHO Representative in Venezuela; the PAHO/WHO Representative in Uruguay, the PAHO/WHO Deputy Director in United States of America, the PAHO/WHO Representative in the Bahamas (and Turks & Caicos), the PAHO/WHO Representative in Trinidad & Tobago, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Suriname, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Trinidad & Tobago, the PAHO/WHO Representative in the office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, the Coordinación de la OPS/OMS en Puerto Rico, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Peru, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Paraguay, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Panamá, the PAHO/WHO Interim Representative in Nicaragua, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Mexico, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Jamaica, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Honduras, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Haití, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Guyana, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Guatemala, the PAHO/WHO Representative in El Salvador, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Ecuador, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Dominican Republic, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Trinidad & Tobago, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Cuba, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Costa Rica, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Colombia, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Chile, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Brazil, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Bolivia, the Director, Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Science Information, the PAHO/WHO Representative in Belize, the PAHO/WHO Representative in the Bahamas (and Turks & Caicos), the PAHO/WHO Representative in Trinidad & Tobago, and the PAHO/WHO Representative in Argentina.
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