Abstract

GARCEZ, Lourdes Maria. The transformative role of education in times of climate crisis for addressing leishmaniasis in the Amazon. Rev Pan-Amaz Saude [online]. 2025, vol.16, e202501789.  Epub Nov 11, 2025. ISSN 2176-6215.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/s2176-6223202501789.

In the Amazon, the high incidence of leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, underscores the interconnectedness of human health, environmental degradation, and climate emergency. Presenting in cutaneous, mucosal, and visceral forms, the disease has advanced in the region due to factors such as deforestation, which alters landscapes and brings vectors closer to human populations, and climatic phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, intensified by global warming, which create favorable conditions for the proliferation and dispersion of Leishmania-transmitting insects. The endemicity of leishmaniasis in the Amazon has deep historical roots, and its treatment faces persistent challenges related to drug toxicity and parasite resistance. Amid ongoing environmental and social threats, health education emerges as a key tool to empower communities and strengthen disease surveillance and control. It is crucial to democratize scientific knowledge among forest-dwelling communities, integrating it with traditional wisdom and promoting an intersectoral approach that involves businesses, government, schools, and local communities. To enable communities to become agents of transformation, a four-stage participatory process is proposed: community assessment, accessible information, collective discussion of solutions, and an integrated action plan. In parallel, investing in school education and bringing science into classrooms through interactive, engaging methods has proven more effective than isolated vector-control actions. The COP30, to be held in Belém, Pará State, Brazil, represents a unique opportunity to reinforce this approach, ensuring that knowledge and sustainability advance together in the conservation of the Amazon.

Keywords : Leishmaniasis; Environment; Insect Vectors; Health Education; Global Warming; Disease Prevention.

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