With theater, comic books, and educational games, the CUIDA Chagas project promoted awareness actions about Chagas disease in schools in Paraguarí, Caacupé, Villa Elisa, Concepción, and Mariscal Estigarribia. The activities marked World Chagas Day, celebrated on April 14, and extended throughout the month.
At San Roque González de Santa Cruz School in Paraguarí, over one hundred high school students attended a lecture by Dr. Mónica Ramírez, implementation manager of the project in Paraguay and head of the National Chagas Disease Control Program of Senepa. She explained that the disease, discovered by Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas in 1909, is silent and can manifest decades later with severe cardiac complications, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.
The comic book “Berenice” was launched, depicting the daily life of a Paraguayan family and encouraging young women to take the rapid detection test. The play “Chau chau, Chagas” was also performed, promoting family and community self-care. After the presentations, students had access to screening services offered by local and central health teams.
A circuit of educational games reinforced prevention messages, including a giant puzzle based on the characters of “Berenice” and a thematic hopscotch with different difficulty levels. In Caacupé, at Raúl Peña School, the school community participated in another awareness day, with the presence of mascot Mari Supersana and the character Berenice, who generated great sympathy among adolescents.
The CUIDA Chagas project, implemented in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay, is coordinated by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare through Senepa. In three years, it has already carried out about 29,000 tests in the country. Authorities highlighted the certification, in 2018, of the interruption of intradomiciliary vector transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, but warned that the disease persists: in 2025, 506 cases were reported, including pregnant women and congenital transmission. The initiative seeks to expand access to diagnosis, especially among women of childbearing age, and is linked to programs such as ETMI Plus and “No Baby with Chagas,” aiming to eliminate mother-to-child transmission.