Fiocruz and SBMT invite the Brazilian Society and call upon managers and health professionals committed to the country to position themselves urgently for human rights, social protection, public education, national science and technology and for the unrestricted defense and strengthening of the SUS.

XIV ENCOUNTER OF THE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM IN CHAGAS DISEASE

LETTER OF PETRÓPOLIS 2017

Researchers at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Vice-presidency of Research and Biological Collections, Vice-Presidency of Environment, Health Promotion and Promotion, Oswaldo Cruz Institute-RJ, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia-RJ, Instituto Gonçalo Moniz-BA, René Rachou- MG, Aggeu Magalhães-PE Institute, Biomanguinhos), representatives of Social Movements of people affected by Chagas disease (FINDECHAGAS – Recife-PE, Campinas-SP and Rio de Janeiro-RJ), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF), Federal University of Ceará, State University of Pernambuco and National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) gathered at the XIV Meeting of the Translational Research Program on Chagas Disease, FIO-CHAGAS – 2017,

There is a clear need to put in perspective those people affected by neglected diseases who persist as complex challenges to be faced and who should be listed as priorities in Brazil’s public health agendas. The burden of this set of diseases, with individual and collective impacts of different natures, should be translated into priority actions for control, necessarily leading to integral care for the affected people. Millions of citizens in situations of vulnerability, neglected, suffer from suffering, sequelae and stigma, along with their families and communities, amplified by the historical institutional and political invisibility.

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Objectives (ODS) in September 2015 by the 193 member countries of the United Nations made it possible for these diseases to be formally recognized as a priority target for integrated global action. This inclusion presents itself as a unique opportunity to strengthen agendas. Brazil as a signatory of the ODS has assumed a major role and responsibility with these people, recognizing their historical commitment.

The Fourth Report of the World Health Organization on Neglected Diseases, launched in April 2017 with the presence of the Presidency of Fiocruz, reinforces these commitments, signals major challenges and expresses a ten-year movement of systematic global efforts in confronting. Strongly expresses the necessary intersectoriality, with strong integration of actions within the global health agenda with different demands for innovation focused on neglected diseases. To substantiate translational aspects, it reiterates the importance of access to diagnosis and treatment materialized through the strengthening of comprehensive care networks, with emphasis on primary care. It brings the necessary construction of education programs, in addition to open access to knowledge, with a strong role for the people affected.

Considering these perspectives, the occurrence of Chagas’ disease as a chronic condition reiterates the unequivocal responsibility of Brazil to seek solutions for control, with the insertion of integral care to affected people, based on the commitment to the Right to Health to guarantee access and of their real needs, with a view to quality of life. The number of people with Trypanosoma cruzi infection in our country is estimated at almost 2.5 million.