Public health in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper highlights the important leadership role of the public health sector, working with other governmental sectors and nongovernmental entities, to advance environmental public health in Latin America and the Caribbean toward the achievement of 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 3: Health and Well-Being. The most pressing current and future environmental public health threats are discussed, followed by a brief review of major historical and current international and regional efforts to address these concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion of three major components of a regional environmental public health agenda that responsible parties can undertake to make significant progress toward ensuring the health and well-being of all people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Dementia Research in the Caribbean Hispanic Islands: Present Findings and Future Trends

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2020.611998 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Daisy Acosta ◽

Jorge J. Llibre-Guerra ◽

Ivonne Z. Jiménez-Velázquez ◽

Juan J. Llibre-Rodríguez

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Latin America ◽

Social Issues ◽

Research Strategies ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Age Related ◽

Regional Strategies ◽

Demographic Aging ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Impact

During the last decade, the Caribbean Hispanic islands experienced accelerated demographic aging, representing the fastest aging region within Latin America. Age-related non-communicable diseases, including dementia, are now reported at high prevalence. The Caribbean islands share similar genetic ancestry, culture, migration patterns, and risk profiles, providing a unique setting to understand dementia in the Caribbean-Hispanics. This perspective article aimed to describe the impact of dementia in the Caribbean, at a local and regional level and reflect on research strategies to address dementia. We report on 10/66 project findings, described research projects and regional plans for the region. According to our results, the prevalence of dementia in the Caribbean is the highest in Latin America, with 11.7% in Dominican Republic, 11.6% in Puerto Rico, and 10.8% in Cuba. Preliminary data from new waves of the 10/66 study shows increasing numbers of dementia cases. Furthermore, dementia is expected to be one of the most serious medical and social issues confronted by Caribbean health systems. However, there is a scarcity of knowledge, awareness, and health services to deal with this public health crisis. In light of the new evidence, local and regional strategies are underway to better understand dementia trends for the region and develop policies aimed to decrease the impact of dementia. Implementation of our national plans is critical to deal with an aging population with high dementia rates. Current recommendations include emphasizing public health prevention campaigns to address modifiable risk factors and expand support to caregiver and family interventions.

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Promoting Safer Foods in Latin America and the Caribbean

International Quarterly of Community Health Education ◽

10.2190/xxad-fu5t-a19a-ddq3 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 375-382

Author(s):

Marilyn Rice ◽

Fernando Quevedo

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Latin America ◽

Media Communication ◽

Current Trends ◽

Health Promotion And Education ◽

Tourism Sector ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Public Health Promotion ◽

Looking Back

This article describes the current trends in public health promotion and education in Latin America and the Caribbean. It gives examples of approaches that work and highlights some of the difficulties of concentrating strictly on the use of mass media communication. Various programs and projects for promoting the safe handling of foods are cited from specific countries and subregions in the Americas. Looking back on what has worked and what has failed, the authors recognize that some advancements have been achieved in improving the public's handling and protection of food, particularly in the tourism sector, and yet many challenges lie ahead for improving upon what has already been done.

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The Latin America and the Caribbean search strategy proposal

Global Health Promotion ◽

10.1177/1757975916661089 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 60-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Eloy F. Ruiz ◽

Alvaro Proaño ◽

Diego Proaño ◽

Junior Smith Torres-Román ◽

J. Jaime Miranda

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Latin America ◽

Global Health ◽

Search Strategy ◽

Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽

Tropical Diseases ◽

Important Public Health ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Public Health Literature

Latin America and the Caribbean’s public health literature is not widely recognized. Science in this region has even been compared to a night sky with just a few specks of light. To make those lights as reachable as possible, we developed the Latin America and the Caribbean Search Strategy (LACSS). This is a new method to utilize our region’s health promotion results within MEDLINE/PubMed. In contrast to a typical MeSH query, LACSS retrieves up to six times more publication results regarding non-communicable diseases, neglected tropical diseases, injuries and other important public health relevant topics in the region. We believe that global health promotion will be improved in this region by improving its visibility, and this search strategy will contribute to this.

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