The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic demonstrated the need to strengthen the focus on gender from an integrative and multisectoral perspective to address health care problems. This article seeks to highlight the importance of incorporating and strengthening the gender focus in policies for building resilient, equitable, and universal health care systems. With this objective in mind, the role of women in the health sector is addressed from two directions.

Objective

To report the progress in Peru, since June 2019, in the implementation of the World Health Organization Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer using the CureAll framework, which can be replicated in low- and middle-income countries.

Objective

To describe the development of educational materials for parents and other caregivers of children with cancer, which utilized a culturally sensitive approach to reduce acceptance barriers to palliative care (PC).

To improve pediatric hematology and oncology outcomes, there is a recognized potential for partnerships between low- and high-resource institutions within health care systems. The SickKids Caribbean Initiative is a partnership between health care professionals at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and seven Caribbean institutions across six countries (Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago).

This report describes the status of childhood cancer control initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Progress between 2017 and 2023 is measured using the outcome indicators from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) childhood cancer logic model aligned with the World Health Organization Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC). This report also describes the advances, barriers, and facilitators for the implementation of the GICC at the Regional level.

This article aims to describe the activities conducted by the National Childhood Cancer Plan Working Group to support the development of national childhood cancer plans in Latin America and the Caribbean in the period 2019–2022, and to present the stage of plan development. The Working Group activities were supported by the Pan American Health Organization and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer.

In Latin America, childhood cancer includes a number of resource-intensive diseases, with inequalities in access to timely and appropriate diagnosis and treatment. In this context, civil society plays a fundamental role in improving childhood cancer care. The Region's organizations in this sector have become stronger and they now play a leading role in the delivery of services and in the promotion of awareness and advocacy for children's health.

The Pan American Journal of Public Health draws readers’ attention to an error in the following article, pointed out by the authors: Anisma R. Gokoel, Maniesha Jairam, Angele Mendeszoon, Lindy Liauw Kie Fa, Fauzia Poese, Ameerani Jarbanha, Vanita Jairam, Firoz Abdoel Wahid Gokoel AR; Jairam M; Mendeszoon A; Liauw Kie Fa L; Poese F; Jarbanha A, et al. Factors associated with COVID-19 length of hospitalization and mortality during four epidemic waves, March 2020–November 2021, Suriname. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2023;47:e100.