Field Photos: 2002 Mission to Guatemala to Fight Chagas Disease

The 13 photographs below illustrate the official mission to Guatemala in February 2002, conducted jointly by PAHO and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as part of their joint collaboration project with the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) in the fight against Chagas disease in poverty-stricken rural communities. The mission conducted field visits to isolated communities in Zacapa, Jutiapa, Chiquimula and elsewhere to evaluate the situation with a view to present and future community-level activities and then presented its findings to the Ministry of Health in Guatemala City. All this was carried out within the framework of the Initiative of Central American Countries against Chagas Disease (IPCA). Photos courtesty of Lic. Jun Nakagawa, PAHO-JICA Regional Advisor on Chagas, PAHO-Honduras. Click on the thumbnail images to view them in original size (in JPG).

Field team travelling via jeep over rough terrain to visit isolated communities in Zacapa as part of their evaluation activities	Team member passing out vector-identification cards to local children to help them learn to identify and report triatomine vector infestation in and around where they live	Observing schoolchildren involved in educational activity to teach them how to identify triatomine vectors in their homes and immediate vicinity	Evaluation team on site during an on-site inspection of a typical dwelling of the type prone to triatomine vector infestation
Searching for vectors with Ministry vector-control team in a humble adobe, thatched-roof dwelling of the type typically occupied by the poor who live in the areas visited	Project and Ministry teams inspecting another home of the type described, where the vectors hide in cracks in the adobe walls and emerge at night to bite inhabitants and infect their bloodstream with the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite	Team member and Ministry vector-control personnel examining vector-distribution map in Chiquimula	Team visiting entomological center run by the Ministry of Health to study local patterns of triatomine infestation, insect behavior and susceptability to pesticides.
Team examining, analyzing and evaluating data in mission findings and preparing them for presentation to health authorities	Members of mission participating as a group in a meeting to finalize the report containing their findings	Mission members reporting to the Vice Minister of Health and present their findings	Team holding press conference together with the Vice Minister of Health to release information to the public
Team holding national seminar with local authorities from various sectors to present progress with a view to an integrated approach	More photos: Guatemala: teamwork | project | blood-testing | IVM El Salvador | Honduras	Central American vectors: T. dimidiata | R. prolixus | R. pallescens	Vulnerable housing  | Disease victims PAHO Chagas page