Saúde ambiental na América Latina e no Caribe: numa encruzilhada

There has been undeniable progress in addressing health, environment and sustainable development in recent decades. Yet, global gains have not been distributed equally, leaving major populations groups excluded, with negative consequences to health. We are also beginning to recognize emerging global problems with significant local impacts, mostly in impoverished populations, both in rural and urban settings. Environmental health is at the crossroads, where new models and partnerships are required. This paper explores these issues with specific reference to the Latin American and Caribbean countries.É inegável que a discussão sobre saúde, meio ambiente e desenvolvimento sustentável tem progredido muito em décadas recentes. Contudo, ganhos globais não têm sido distribuídos de maneira uniforme, deixando grandes grupos populacionais excluídos, com conseqüências negativas à saúde. Também estamos começando a reconhecer problemas globais emergentes que causam impactos locais significativos, principalmente em populações pobres, tanto em áreas rurais como urbanas. A saúde ambiental está numa encruzilhada, em que novos modelos e parcerias são necessários. Este artigo explora essas questões especificamente em relação aos países latino-americanos e caribenhos

Steps for Preventing Infectious Diseases in Women1

Infectious disease prevention must take into account women’s unique vulnerabilities and must consider biomedical, social, economic, and personal factors

Prevention, control, and elimination of neglected diseases in the Americas: Pathways to integrated, inter-programmatic, inter-sectoral action for health and development

BACKGROUND: In the Latin America and Caribbean region over 210 million people live below the poverty line. These impoverished and marginalized populations are heavily burdened with neglected communicable diseases. These diseases continue to enact a toll, not only on families and communities, but on the economically constrained countries themselves. DISCUSSION: As national public health priorities, neglected communicable diseases typically maintain a low profile and are often left out when public health agendas are formulated. While many of the neglected diseases do not directly cause high rates of mortality, they contribute to an enormous rate of morbidity and a drastic reduction in income for the most poverty-stricken families and communities. The persistence of this "vicious cycle" between poverty and poor health demonstrates the importance of linking the activities of the health sector with those of other sectors such as education, housing, water and sanitation, labor, public works, transportation, agriculture, industry, and economic development. SUMMARY: The purpose of this paper is three fold. First, it focuses on a need for integrated "pro-poor" approaches and policies to be developed in order to more adequately address the multi-faceted nature of neglected diseases. This represents a move away from traditional disease-centered approaches to a holistic approach that looks at the overarching causes and mechanisms that influence the health and well being of communities. The second objective of the paper outlines the need for a specific strategy for addressing these diseases and offers several programmatic entry points in the context of broad public health measures involving multiple sectors. Finally, the paper presents several current Pan American Health Organization and other institutional initiatives that already document the importance of integrated, inter-programmatic, and inter-sectoral approaches. They provide the framework for a renewed effort toward the efficient use of resources and the development of a comprehensive integrated solution to neglected communicable diseases found in the context of poverty, and tailored to the needs of local communities

MEETING OF THE COMMISSION ON THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Objectives a. Consultation with Canadian Government b. Consultation on indigenous health c. Expert comments on interim statemen

The Next WHO Director-General’s Highest Priority: a Global Treaty on the Human Right to Health

Amidst the many challenges facing the next WHO Director-General, the new WHO head should find WHO’s foremost priority in its most important constitutional pillar: the right to health. The centerpiece of this endeavor should be leadership on the Framework Convention on Global Health (FCGH), the proposed global treaty based in the right to health and aimed at national and global health equity. The treaty would reform global governance for health to enhance accountability, transparency, and civil society participation and protect the right to health in trade, investment, climate change, and other international regimes, while catalyzing governments to institutionalize the right to health at community through to national levels. It would usher in a new era of global health with justice – vast improvements in health outcomes, equitably distributed. With the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control having served as a proof of concept, the FCGH would be an innovative treaty finding solutions to overcome global health failings in accountability, equality, financing, and inter-sectoral coherence. It would include a global health accountability framework, encompassing, civil society engagement, independent monitoring, and plans for redress, while catalyzing national health accountability strategies, accountability mechanisms, disaggregated data, and community participation. National health equity strategies, pro-poor pathways to universal health coverage, and robust non-discrimination provisions could elevate the voices, priorities, and ultimately power of marginalized populations. The FCGH would include a national and global health financing framework, while reaching beyond the health sector with right to health assessments, public health participation in developing international agreements, and responsibility for all sectors for improving health outcomes. The FCGH would reinvigorate WHO’s global health leadership, breathing new life into its founding principles. It could become the platform for reforming WHO as a rights-based 21st century institution, with badly-needed reforms, such as community participation, new priorities favouring social determinants of health, and a culture of transparency and accountability. The next Director-General should launch a historic effort to align national and global governance for with human rights through the FCGH, bringing the world closer to global health with justice

The legal determinants of health: harnessing the power of law for global health and sustainable development.

Law affects global health in multiple ways, by structuring, perpetuating, and mediating the social determinants of health. 2 Although law has been central to major public health achievements in the past, its capacity to advance global health with justice remains substantially underutilised, particularly among professionals in the fields of health and science. 3 The right to health, a legally binding norm, provides a foundation for advancing global health with justice and should underpin health-related legal reforms. 4 Every human being has a right to affordable, high quality health services. By embedding equity and accountability in all health systems, the law and the rule of law can achieve health coverage that is truly universal—delivering the Sustainable Development Goals’ promise to leave no one behind. 5 Although the ability to enforce compliance with international legal obligations is generally limited, and largely dependent on power dynamics and political will, creative mechanisms can foster compliance and help establish impetus for action. 6 Law can address the pressing health concerns of the 21st century, across diverse areas. From tobacco control, non-communicable diseases, and road safety, to health emergencies, law can implement fair, evidence-based interventions to save lives. The global health community should champion evidence-based legal interventions and build the research case for legal action. 7 Laws that stigmatise or discriminate against marginalised populations are especially harmful and exacerbate health disparities. The global health community must oppose laws that undermine the right to health and to equity. 8 To realise the full potential of law to advance global health with justice, the global health community should build legal capacity and establish a sustained dialogue with legislators, regulators, judges, civil society, and researchers