In 2008, Ecuador’s Constitution recognized the right to health with an integrated vision that considers health vital to the exercise of other human rights. To accommodate this vision, and the increase in demand for health services, Ecuador initiated a comprehensive reform of its health system.
Implementation research is a crucial component of effective public health and clinical policies and programs. It promotes the generation and use of health policy and systems research (HPSR) as a means to improve health and health systems, and is particularly effective in low- and middle-income countries. HPSR, including implementation research, has been promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an effective mechanism with which to identify gaps in a health system’s capacity, efficient functioning, and sustainable use of funds.
This special issue of the Pan American Journal of Public Health on “HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment in the Region of the Americas: achievements, challenges and perspectives” presents the current response to HIV/AIDS in the Region with a focus on three main areas: HIV prevention, HIV care and treatment, and the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis.
We examined the impact of tobacco prices or taxes on tobacco use in Latin America and Caribbean countries. We searched MEDLINE, EconLit, LILACS, unpublished literature, 6 specialty journals, and reviewed references. We calculated pooled price elasticities using random-effects models. The 32 studies we examined found that cigarette prices have a negative and statistically significant effect on cigarette consumption. A change in price is associated with a less than proportional change in the quantity of cigarettes demanded.
Though the devastating health effects of tobacco use are well known, tobacco’s negative repercussions extend well beyond the obvious health outcomes. Tobacco consumption creates a significant economic burden on societies because of both the high costs of health care and the associated lost productivity. In addition, tobacco use contributes to health inequalities and exacerbates poverty within and between countries through the diversion of resources away from food and other essential needs as well as through foregone income.
Rapid climate change poses direct and unprecedented challenges to human health on a global scale. These include the burden of disease from environmental risks—expected to rise steadily over the coming years—and direct and indirect effects on human health due to disruptions and shifts in services provided by ecosystems.
Recent decades have witnessed major and alarming changes in nutritional status and trends at the global level. These include a double burden of disease in which some 50 million children under age 5 suffer from wasting or acute malnutrition while 41 million others are overweight or obese. In the Americas, trends similar to, and in some cases worse than, those include high rates of childhood anemia and stunting alongside obesity rates as high as 20-25% in children and adolescents.
Health regulation is regarded as one of public health’s basic functions.
The World Health Organization’s determination of the Ebola virus disease outbreak as a public health event of international concern prompted non affected countries to implement measures to prevent, detect, and manage the introduction of the virus in their territories. The outbreak provided an opportunity to assess the operational implementation of the International Health Regulations’ core capacities and health systems’ preparedness to handle a potential or confirmed case of Ebola virus disease.
Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be an important global health problem despite significant progress since the declaration of TB as a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization in 1993. In the Region of the Americas, great progress has been made since the implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) Strategy in the 1990?s, and later by its successor Stop TB Strategy in 2006. However, despite progress toward TB control in the Region, challenges remain.
