World Chagas Disease Day is observed on April 14th to raise awareness around Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis. It is considered a neglected tropical disease, mostly endemic in countries in the Americas, although the migration of infected people can spread the disease to non-endemic countries. It is primarily transmitted to animals and people by triatomine bugs in rural areas of Latin America; other ways of transmission include via blood transfusion, organ transplantation, mother-to-baby, and foodborne transmission. Usually, the disease progression is slow and often shows an asymptomatic clinical course, but without treatment, Chagas disease can lead to severe cardiac and digestive alterations and even become fatal.

The theme for the 2025 commemoration is, "Prevent, Control, Care: Everyone’s role in Chagas disease," as efforts from all stakeholders are needed to integrate its response enhancing the education and communication activities, detection, early treatment, follow-up, and notification of cases, as innovation, evaluation of new diagnostics, and drugs can accelerate the way towards eliminating the disease as a public health problem.

ISID joins the global community to raise awareness of this disease and promote better access for its diagnosis and treatment.