According to a communiqué posted on PAHO’s website, leprosy, dengue, dog-transmitted rabies, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, intestinal parasites and trachoma are some of more than 20 diseases that are present in the region, putting the health of more than 200 million people at risk.

The strategies against these diseases involve bringing prevention, diagnosis and treatment closer to vulnerable communities, as well as improving their living conditions, such as access to education, drinking water, basic sanitation and housing, PAHO’s director of the Department of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health, Marcos Espinal, said.

According to the agency, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted programs to control and eliminate these diseases in the Americas, such as the mass administration of medicines, surveys and the active search for cases.

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