Chagas is a neglected tropical disease which has spread along the globe due to population movements. In addition to the biomedical aspects, the psychosocial dimension of a chronic disease charged of stigma, fear and hopelessness must also be taken into account. The students had the opportunity to know firsthand the most human side of this disease thanks to the participation of the doctor Navarro and Briggite Jordan (health worker specialised in Chagas) of Mundo Sano.
30 january 2017
Miriam Navarro Beltrá is a medical doctor in Medicine from the Rey Juan Carlos Univeristy, Madrid. Specialised in Family and Community Medicine, took her first steps in tropical medicine as a student of the Master’s Degree in Tropical Parasitic Diseases from Universitat de València in 2001.
She coordinated for six years the Public Health and Immigration group of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital (Tropical Medicine Unit, Infectious Diseases Unit), hospital where in addition she became researcher through the programm Río Hortega (Carlos III Health Institute). The activities in health education adapted to immigrants develop during those years (2006-2011) received several national and international recognitions.
She was co-founder of Salud entre Culturas and nowadays she is the Secretary of the Spanish Society of Tropical Medicine and International Health (Sociedad Española de Medicina Tropical y Salud Internacional). She works since 2012 as a researcher in the Foundation Mundo Sano, coordinating the projects about Chaga’s disease in Spain and in other countries of Europe. Her work has been focused on the health education adapted to vulnerable populations and on the epidemiology and social aspects of neglected tropical diseases. She conducts since 2013 Mundo Sano (www.mundosano.org) a pioneer programme training patients as health agents called “Mothers Comitted to Chagas disease: acting here and there”.
Dr. Navarro is the author of several scientific publications and books related with the tropical medicine.
