Q&A: Bringing End-of-Life Care to Rio’s Favelas
AQ talked to the founder of an organization that provides palliative care in the Rocinha and Vidigal favelas.
AQ Podcast: Finding Nuance in Brazil’s Crisis
Arminio Fraga joins the podcast for a deep dive on Brazil’s economy and health care system.
Latin America’s Social Distance Disconnect
While wealthy residents shelter in place, many of those living on the edge of the region’s biggest cities face impossible choices.
Is Mexico Prepared to Confront Coronavirus?
A recent overhaul of Mexico’s health system could complicate its response to the pandemic.
Why Latin America’s Hospitals Are So Vulnerable to Coronavirus
The region spends less on healthcare than the Middle East, and other ailments like cancer have already been on the rise.
Cuba and Cholera: Good Hygiene and Good Government Can Save Lives
Almost five months ago, the Cuban government announced the end of a cholera outbreak in eastern Cuba. At the time, Cuba’s Public Health Ministry blamed the three deaths and 417 cases on overflowing toilets, heavy rains and contaminated wells. According to the government, thanks to its prompt reaction and the quality of the country’s public … Read more
The Next Health Challenge in the Hemisphere: Non-Communicable Diseases
This year in the Americas, 4.5 million people will die of chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. While the countries of the region have made great strides over the past two generations in decreasing death rates from infectious diseases—they are no longer the leading causes of death in … Read more
Can You Heal Me Now?
Mobile phone subscriptions have overtaken fixed lines as the preferred method of communication across Latin America and the Caribbean, with penetration rates of almost 90 percent. Some forecasts indicate that subscriptions in the region could grow by 8.2 percent in 2010. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), mobile subscriptions globally will surpass the 5 … Read more
Black Medicine
When you’re sick, taking the right medicine is almost as important as finding a good doctor. But what if the medicine is fake? A black market in counterfeit or low-quality drugs is fast becoming the world’s newest health hazard. Although the extent of drug counterfeiting is very difficult to assess, in 2005 Peter Pitts of … Read more
Communications, Collaboration and Technology
Across Latin America, obstacles to health care access are similar. Beds are full, waiting rooms overflow, and treatment delays are common. Creating equitable access to health services requires addressing the ubiquitous challenges of escalating demand, rising citizen expectations and unrelenting pressure to do more with less. One solution is to find better ways of incorporating … Read more
Who’s Covered?
The recent debate over health care reform in the United States has highlighted the impact of poverty, race and labor market position on access to health care. But what about the region? New data from the 2010 AmericasBarometer surveys, covering every country in North and South America plus many in the Caribbean, suggest that, not … Read more
The Mobile Revolution in Rural Health Care
Around the world, mobile phone use is skyrocketing. In Colombia, there are more mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants than in the United States. In Kenya, more than four out of every ten people are mobile subscribers—up from essentially zero just 10 years ago. And because phones are often shared within families, mobile access is even … Read more
Health Care Goes Local
Decentralization has emerged as a major tool for improving the delivery of health services in Latin America. But has it worked? This is a crucial question for policymakers in the region—and elsewhere—and not only in the health sector. One of the major public policy debates of our time is to what extent decentralization of government … Read more
