AMEPACH: Mexican Association of People Affected by Chagas Disease
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First-ever Mexican patients’ association for people affected by Chagas disease launched
Mexican Association of People Affected by Chagas Disease (AMEPACH) created to help tackle the deadliest neglected parasitic infection in Latin America
Mexican Association of People Affected by Chagas Disease (AMEPACH) created to help tackle the deadliest neglected parasitic infection in Latin America
Mexico City, 14 November 2012 – Patients and families affected by Chagas disease in 13 Mexican states gathered in Oaxaca 16-18 October to form the Mexican Association of Persons Affected by Chagas Disease (AMEPACH), the first-ever patients’ association in Mexico for this deadly neglected disease. The association will unite patients and advocates to fight the ongoing neglect of this disease in public policy, awareness, prevention, medical care and treatment of people across the country.
An estimated 1 to 2 million people in Mexico have Chagas disease, the leading parasitic killer of the Americas. This means almost 1 in 50 Mexicans is infected, where 30 percent have developed severe cardiac or digestive symptoms of the chronic phase that can lead to death in the most productive years of life. Approximately 25,000 to 58,000 adults die annually from Chagas in Mexico, which represents 2.5% to 5% of the country´s overall mortality.
Despite evidence, there has been little to no appropriate policy or sufficient action by public health services, for control, prevention, and surveillance, or for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients, despite the disease’s social and economic burden. For example, the federal government has not given sanitary registration for the only two drugs available to treat the disease. The drugs are not included on Mexico´s essential drugs list, or in the national formularies of the Health Ministry (SSA), social security system (IMSS), government worker health system (ISSSTE), or the country´s new Seguro Popular program. Many of the patients who have already been diagnosed have not received treatment or been clinically evaluated due in large part to a lack of knowledge regarding the disease by physicians and the healthcare sector.
AMEPACH was launched with the support of concerned scientists and healthcare actors, non-governmental organizations, and agencies, including the National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and the EcoHealth Community of Practice (COPEH-LAC México). AMEPACH is a non-profit group based on the constitutional right to health and medical attention.
“The launch of this patient group will finally bring an official voice to those people and their families suffering in silence from Chagas disease all throughout Mexico,” says Elvira Idalia Hernández Cuevas, the newly elected President of AMEPACH. “Persons affected by Chagas, like my daughter, need access to timely diagnosis, treatment and efficient care, in order to improve their quality of life.”
An estimated 1 to 2 million people in Mexico have Chagas disease, the leading parasitic killer of the Americas. This means almost 1 in 50 Mexicans is infected, where 30 percent have developed severe cardiac or digestive symptoms of the chronic phase that can lead to death in the most productive years of life. Approximately 25,000 to 58,000 adults die annually from Chagas in Mexico, which represents 2.5% to 5% of the country´s overall mortality.
Despite evidence, there has been little to no appropriate policy or sufficient action by public health services, for control, prevention, and surveillance, or for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients, despite the disease’s social and economic burden. For example, the federal government has not given sanitary registration for the only two drugs available to treat the disease. The drugs are not included on Mexico´s essential drugs list, or in the national formularies of the Health Ministry (SSA), social security system (IMSS), government worker health system (ISSSTE), or the country´s new Seguro Popular program. Many of the patients who have already been diagnosed have not received treatment or been clinically evaluated due in large part to a lack of knowledge regarding the disease by physicians and the healthcare sector.
AMEPACH was launched with the support of concerned scientists and healthcare actors, non-governmental organizations, and agencies, including the National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and the EcoHealth Community of Practice (COPEH-LAC México). AMEPACH is a non-profit group based on the constitutional right to health and medical attention.
“The launch of this patient group will finally bring an official voice to those people and their families suffering in silence from Chagas disease all throughout Mexico,” says Elvira Idalia Hernández Cuevas, the newly elected President of AMEPACH. “Persons affected by Chagas, like my daughter, need access to timely diagnosis, treatment and efficient care, in order to improve their quality of life.”
Contact: amepach@gmail.com
For more information, access this community at globalaccesstohealth.net/chagasplatform
