Chagas Disease

Again, Chagas is a disease that is transmitted through humans by an insect vector specifically a triatomine bug known as Trypansosoma Cruzi. Consequently, Chagas currently affects about 8 million people worldwide and is considered a life-threatening disease. In Argentina, it affects 3 million residents alone and is considered the number one cause of cardiac diseases in the country. According to the World Health Organization, about 40 percent of patients infected with Chagas will develop chronic cardiac diseases (WHO). This possesses many global health implications because cardiac complication is the number one leading cause of death in Argentina. In 2012 alone, WHO states that 50,000 people or 16 percent of caused deaths during that year was
The first MDG argues to effectively and efficiently eradicate poverty in global countries. As a result, the eradication of poverty in Argentina needs an immediate response due to the fact that Chagas mainly affects people in the country’s lower class. Peter J. Hotez establishes this argument when he asserts in his research journal “An Unfolding Tragedy of Chagas Disease in North America” that there exists strong links between Chagas and “people living in extreme poverty in the Western Hemisphere, especially in Latin America, where [Chagas] is a major parasitic killer” (Hotez). Additionally, Bortz reinforces this argument when she claims that Chagas affects poverty because “[Chagas] transmission is associated with deficient housing, insufficient material conditions and sanitation facilities, malnutrition, and lack of access to sanitary information” (Bortz). According to The World Bank, the Gini index of Argentina, which measures income inequality, was about 45 percent in the last five recent years. Furthermore, The Catholic University of Argentina supports this as they provide statistical evidence in Will Carless’ article in the Public Radio International that over 30 percent of Argentinians, in 2016, are in poverty (Carless). As a result, these statistical data imply that currently 1.3 million out of the 41.5
Therefore, the seventh MDG is an additional important goal that raises strong concerns and possesses strong relevance in the Chagas epidemic. Ultimately, the seventh MDG argues to ensure environmental sustainability. Ricardo Gurtler presents his discoveries about environmental issues due to Chagas in his research article “Incidence Of Trypanosoma Cruzi Infection Among Children Following Domestic Re-infestation After Insecticide Spraying In Rural Northwestern Argentina.” His studies were based off of the rural village, Amama in Santiago del Estero, and Gurtler found that “88–96% of houses had bedroom areas infested” with Chagas’s insect vector in October 1992 alone (Gurtler). However, the high infection percentage was a large increase as 4 years earlier in 1988, Gurtler found in the same village that only 60 percent was infected with the triatomine insect. He further adds 80 percent of the houses in the Amama village contained cracked walls, poor infrastructure and low sanitation (Gurtler). Gurtler’s discoveries imply important implications in the environmental sustainability of Argentina. This is due to the fact that about 10 percent or 4 million Argentinian citizens live in rural areas (WHO). Indeed, most rural villages in Argentina contain similar neglected and poor dilapidated infrastructure similar to their neighbor village, Amama. As a consequence, the infestation of Chagas