Chagas: When children are the heroes
Plan Bolivia and Pro Habitat help teach children how to prevent Chagas with model houses.
September 26, 2005
By Claudia Columba, National Sponsorship, Communication and PR Coordinator
Chagas disease, spread by the Vinchuca beetle, threatens 70% of the population of Bolivia.
What is Chagas?
Chagas is a debilitating and fatal disease that remains incurable in adults. No one is safe, although people living in poverty are the most at risk. Plan Bolivia wants children to be aware of Chagas so that they can confront and eliminate this plague.
What is Plan doing?
The Chagas Disease Control Program (PROPLAN) is based on the experiences of Plan Bolivia and Pro Habitat. To date it has benefited over 23,000 families (approximately 111,000 people) and has been recognized by the United Nations as an innovation in the habitat area.
Through pioneering work, we’re also expanding the number of children who can be treated for Chagas. We’ve developed an effective and safe protocol to treat children up to 12 years of age. We’re also one of the few organizations providing treatment in rural areas.
To continue with this work, we’ve signed an Inter-institutional Agreement with Bolivia’s Vice Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (VMDUV) to strengthen the implementation of the Healthy Homes Program in seven municipalities in Chuquisaca and Tarija. The goal is to train 9,000 more families in Chagas prevention, including home improvement and behavior change, over the next five and a half years.
The program will cost US$11 million with over 75 per cent of this coming from Bolivian sources. The VMDUV will provide US$4.5 million, the communities will provide local materials and labor valued at over US$3.2 million, the municipal governments will contribute up to US$30 per home (US$270,000) and Pro Habitat will add an additional US$400,000. This represents the first time that Pro Habitat will make a financial contribution and marks the first time that the VMDUV will invest part of its resources in behavior change activities.
That the funding has evolved from being almost completely externally supported to being 75 per cent locally funded demonstrates that the program is on its way to sustainability and is highly regarded by the communities.
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What Plan has achieved so far in Bolivia
Bolivian journalist, Mónica Oblitas, reports:
Churicana (Chuquisaca) is the first community to receive us two journalists, with temperatures soaring above 30 at midday. A puppet theatre is being set up with its main character being an enormous sponge Vinchuca beetle that is hated by the children.
Through play, it is hoped that the children and their families can understand and change their knowledge, attitudes and practices related to their housing and endemic diseases, especially Chagas. Miguel Pimentel, Regional Coordinator for the Chagas Program in the Sucre Program Office and others working alongside him believe the children will beat Chagas.
They are learning that animals should not sleep alongside people, that each room has its specific use and that the Vinchuca beetle, in contrast to what their grandparents believed, does not bring good luck or money but rather death and disease, and not just to the poorest.
The intensive education program includes workshops with children, adolescents, young people, school teachers, health workers from the municipality and inhabitants of the communities where the housing improvements will be carried out. The program also includes regular training to promote better communication among community members and to increase understanding of the difficulties that communities face. They will know when, how and with whom to talk, which is essential to gaining the trust of the communities.
“What is most satisfying for us is seeing the children understanding the need to eradicate the Vinchucas and teaching basic hygiene to their parents,” said Miguel. “We want the Chagas control and prevention program to be included in the school curriculum.”
The children play an important role in the process, not only because they need to be treated when they are infected but also because they are easier to educate in the prevention of the disease and so to promote change within for their family and community.
Back to top
Chagas disease, spread by the Vinchuca beetle, threatens 70% of the population of Bolivia.
What is Chagas?
Chagas is a debilitating and fatal disease that remains incurable in adults. No one is safe, although people living in poverty are the most at risk. Plan Bolivia wants children to be aware of Chagas so that they can confront and eliminate this plague.
What is Plan doing?
The Chagas Disease Control Program (PROPLAN) is based on the experiences of Plan Bolivia and Pro Habitat. To date it has benefited over 23,000 families (approximately 111,000 people) and has been recognized by the United Nations as an innovation in the habitat area.
Through pioneering work, we’re also expanding the number of children who can be treated for Chagas. We’ve developed an effective and safe protocol to treat children up to 12 years of age. We’re also one of the few organizations providing treatment in rural areas.
To continue with this work, we’ve signed an Inter-institutional Agreement with Bolivia’s Vice Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (VMDUV) to strengthen the implementation of the Healthy Homes Program in seven municipalities in Chuquisaca and Tarija. The goal is to train 9,000 more families in Chagas prevention, including home improvement and behavior change, over the next five and a half years.
The program will cost US$11 million with over 75 per cent of this coming from Bolivian sources. The VMDUV will provide US$4.5 million, the communities will provide local materials and labor valued at over US$3.2 million, the municipal governments will contribute up to US$30 per home (US$270,000) and Pro Habitat will add an additional US$400,000. This represents the first time that Pro Habitat will make a financial contribution and marks the first time that the VMDUV will invest part of its resources in behavior change activities.
That the funding has evolved from being almost completely externally supported to being 75 per cent locally funded demonstrates that the program is on its way to sustainability and is highly regarded by the communities.
Back to top
What Plan has achieved so far in Bolivia
- The methodology used by PROPLAN has been tried and tested on a large scale and has been successful in fighting Chagas disease.
- Vinchuca infestations around houses have dropped from 68% to 5% after home improvement
- Vinchuca infestations inside houses have reduced from 65% to 2% after home improvement
- The ratio of Vinchucas per person has dropped from 9.5 to 0.7
- Over 80% of the residents now regularly clean their house, keep the animals outside and have changed their habits
- PROPLAN improved 11,250 houses between 2000 and 2004
- The houses have been fumigated
- 2000 children below the age of 12 have been treated for Chagas
- Infected mothers of children below the age of 1 are constantly monitored
Bolivian journalist, Mónica Oblitas, reports:
Churicana (Chuquisaca) is the first community to receive us two journalists, with temperatures soaring above 30 at midday. A puppet theatre is being set up with its main character being an enormous sponge Vinchuca beetle that is hated by the children.
Through play, it is hoped that the children and their families can understand and change their knowledge, attitudes and practices related to their housing and endemic diseases, especially Chagas. Miguel Pimentel, Regional Coordinator for the Chagas Program in the Sucre Program Office and others working alongside him believe the children will beat Chagas.
They are learning that animals should not sleep alongside people, that each room has its specific use and that the Vinchuca beetle, in contrast to what their grandparents believed, does not bring good luck or money but rather death and disease, and not just to the poorest.
The intensive education program includes workshops with children, adolescents, young people, school teachers, health workers from the municipality and inhabitants of the communities where the housing improvements will be carried out. The program also includes regular training to promote better communication among community members and to increase understanding of the difficulties that communities face. They will know when, how and with whom to talk, which is essential to gaining the trust of the communities.
“What is most satisfying for us is seeing the children understanding the need to eradicate the Vinchucas and teaching basic hygiene to their parents,” said Miguel. “We want the Chagas control and prevention program to be included in the school curriculum.”
The children play an important role in the process, not only because they need to be treated when they are infected but also because they are easier to educate in the prevention of the disease and so to promote change within for their family and community.
Back to top
