The Chagas Disease Global Coalition (together with some of its members including the Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, DNDi, Fundación Mundo Sano and ISGlobal) will be participating in two main events taking place in conjunction this month in Baltimore (USA): the COR-NTD and the ASTMH Annual meetings. Here the main sessions and other inputs:
COR-NTD (3-4 November). Decisions Analysis Approach to Scaling up Healthcare.
The Chagas Coalition is vice-chair of the Specific Diseases Working Group and will hold a break out session on: “A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Approach (MCDA) to Scaling up Healthcare for Chagas Disease” on November 4th from 9 am to 12 pm in the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel. The Session Chairs will be Gurram Gopal, Illinois Institute of Technology and Silvia Moriana, Chagas Disease Global Coalition.
Speakers from Mundo Sano (Marina Kasacoff), DNDi and Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease (Colin Forsyth), ISGlobal (María Jesús Pinazo) and Chagas Coalition will hold this seminar on an MCDA which has been used for Chagas disease programs. Mundo Sano will also show examples of effective interventions in the Argentinian context.
The key features of this session include: 1) a presentation covering the MCDA model; 2) the application of the tool in multiple countries and 3) an interactive exercise wherein session participants can create strategies that can be evaluated by the strategic planning tool. Participants will be able to access this versatile tool and use it for their projects or data sets in the future. Some questions, such as how did results change by country, what lessons learnt could improve the model, and what would be needed for adaptation to other NTDs will be addressed.
ASTMH annual meeting (5-9 November). Barriers to Access and Challenges in the U.S., Europe and Latin America.
Right after the COR-NTD meeting, the Chagas Coalition will be also participating in the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTHMH) on November 5-9, in the Baltimore Convention Center. The meeting draws approximately 4,400 attendees. The Coalition and its members will be holding two symposiums and a poster:
Symposium 1: Regional Differences in Clinical research and Patient Care
Session # 126, November 8th , 8:00-9:45 am, Room 327/328/329.
Chair: Sergio Sosa-Estani, Head of Chagas Clinical Program, DNDi Co-Chair: Joaquim Gascon, Director of the Chagas Initiative, IS Global.
This symposium highlights recent developments in the Chagas landscape and will focus on regional differences in the management of patients with cardiac disease, dynamics of congenital T. cruzi transmission, latest developments in research and clinical trials, and proposal of an algorithm to assess response to etiological treatment.
Speakers: Fabiana Barreira, DNDi, Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil “Update on current clinical trials for improving etiological treatment of Chagas disease” Joaquim Gascon, Institut de Salut Global, Barcelona “Latest developments in biomarkers for Chagas disease” Carlos Morillo, University of Calgary, Alberta “Real-world management of heart failure in Chagas disease: insights from the BENEFIT Trial” Pierre Buekens, Tulane University, New Orleans “Regional differences in congenital transmission of T. cruzi in Latin America” Yanina Sguassero, Centro Rosarino de Estudios Perinatales, Rosario “Decision-making algorithm for the evaluation of therapeutic response in the health care system”.
Symposium 2. Immigration and Chagas Disease: Barriers to Access to Treatment and New Challenges in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.
Session # 159, November 8th, 1:45-3:30 pm, Room 341-2.
Chair: Sheba Meymandi, Director Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center.
The goal of this seminar is to highlight the relationship of Chagas disease and immigration in different contexts and highlight potential approaches that can improve health in this neglected population.
Speakers: Peter Hotez, Baylor University “Migrants, Infectious Diseases, and the Political Economic Landscape in 2017” Joaquim Gascon, Institut de Salut Global, Barcelona “Immigration and Chagas Disease in Europe: New Challenges” Maria Aparecida Shikanai-Yasuda, University of São Paulo, Brazil “Chagas Disease in the Bolivian Population of São Paulo, Brazil” Colin Forsyth, DNDi and CECD “Chagas Disease in a Time of Immigrant Backlash: Challenges for Expanding Access to Treatment in Los Angeles and Beyond”.
Poster Session. Improving control of Chagas disease.
Finally, the Coalition will be presenting a Poster Session on: “Strategies for improving the control of Chagas disease in Catalonia (Spain). A multiple Criteria Decision Analysis”. Monday, November 6, 2017, Noon - 1:45 pm. Speakers: Silvia Moriana from the Coalition; and Maria Jesús Pinazo, from ISGlobal. This study was aimed to provide a strategy based on a set of interventions and actions related for the control of CD in Catalonia. Using a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tool previously developed in a similar project in Bolivia, this methodology ranks interventions according to outcome (impact of the intervention) and complexity (cost and difficulties to implement interventions selected) provides policy-makers a tool that, given specific and modifiable objectives to control CD, helps them in defining the best possible strategy.
