During the XXV Meeting of the Pan American Health Organization’s Directing Council in September 1977, Resolution CD25.R27 was issued with the objective to reduce morbidity and mortality from common childhood and vaccine-preventable diseases and to create and expand permanent vaccination services in the primary healthcare system.
Objectives. We analyzed a probability sample of Guatemalans to determine if a relationship exists between previous violent events and development of mental health outcomes in various sociodemographic groups, as well as during and after the Guatemalan Civil War.
Methods. We used regression modeling, an interaction test, and complex survey design adjustments to estimate prevalences and test potential relationships between previous violent events and mental health.
Objectives. To identify work-related factors associated with depressive symptoms and probable major depression in primary care teams.
Methods. Cross-sectional study among primary care teams (community health workers, nursing assistants, nurses, and physicians) in the city of São Paulo, Brazil (2011– 2012; n = 2940), to assess depressive symptoms and probable major depression and their associations with job strain and other work-related conditions.
Chikungunya, an arboviral disease previously unknown in the Americas, became an epidemic in the Region after its first indigenous circulation was reported in December 2013. From that point on, the epidemic spread throughout the Region at an unprecedented pace, and the generation of scientific knowledge that has an impact on public health has become a high priority.
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.
