Launch of the first international course on Chagas disease

The Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Mundo Sano Foundation join forces to launch the first International Course on Chagas Disease “Motivating Action” for health teams linked to this problem. The postgraduate course has a virtual modality and is available on the UBA platform from October 10. The Course seeks to provide practical tools to promote the diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease, strengthen the training and work of health professionals and teams, and motivate them to universalize access to health for people affected by Chagas disease (registration open at this link). The program proposes a comprehensive approach with a highly specialized faculty, including Drs. Roberto Salvatella, PAHO/WHO Regional Chagas Advisor – PAHO/WHO Technical Secretariat; Pedro Albajar, Coordinator of the WHO Chagas Disease Programme; Joaquim Gascón, Head of the Chagas, Parasitic and Import Diseases Program and former Director of the Chagas Initiative of lSGlobal (Spain) and Felipe Guhl, director of the Center for Research in Tropical Microbiology and Parasitology (CIMPAT);  Roberto Chuit, Executive Director of the Institute of Epidemiological Research of the National Academy of Medicine of Argentina; Jaime Altcheh, Head of the parasitology service, Children’s Hospital “Ricardo Gutiérrez; Caryn Bern, Professor of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California (San Francisco, United States) and Tomás Orduna, Head of the Regional Pathologies and Tropical Medicine Service, “Francisco Javier Muñiz” Hospital and co-director of the course. The focus of this course is eminently practical in order to provide the participant with tools of immediate application in their place of action. “Our goal is that those who carry it out know the different models of approach for the diagnosis and treatment of Chagas disease and have tools that contribute to eliminating the access barriers that still persist in care services,” says Marcelo Abril, Executive Director of the Mundo Sano Foundation and co-director of the postgraduate course. Over the course of 6 weeks, different aspects related to Chagas disease will be addressed. In turn, each module will have a master class of 20 minutes in length by international references in the field. “The course, in addition to providing tools that favor the development of knowledge, skills, attitudes and responsibilities related to Chagas disease, will allow interested professionals to carry out optional practical activities in the Laboratory of Clinics of the University of Buenos Aires,” says Marcelo Rodríguez Fermepin, head of the aforementioned laboratory and co-director of the postgraduate course. “These practices are intended to reinforce knowledge in detection methods and serological and molecular diagnostic techniques,” he says.

Original source in Spanish