Pan American Health Organization

About: Pan American Health Organization is a healthcare organization based out in Havana, Cuba. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 1500 authors who have published 2263 publications receiving 83705 citations. The organization is also known as: HO Regional Office for the Americas.

Trends in infant mortality inequalities in the Americas: 1955–1995

Abstract: Study objectives: To describe overall and income related trends in infant mortality inequalities in the Region of the Americas from 1955 to 1995. Design: Infant mortality rates (IMRs) were computed and their trends assessed by ordinary least squares. Overall trends in IMR inequalities among countries were analysed by comparing 10 year period IMRs, Gini coefficients, and Lorenz curves. Income related trends in IMR inequalities were assessed using 10 year period IMR ratios between the highest and the lowest quintiles of the per capita gross national product (GNP) distributions (adjusted for purchasing power). Setting: Aggregated country data were used for all countries with over 200 thousand inhabitants (33 geopolitical units). The 10 year period midpoint IMR estimates used for the 1955–1995 time series were those published by the United Nations in 1997. Main results: IMRs decreased from 90.34 to 31.31 per 1000 live births between 1955 and 1995 at an average of 15.3 every 10 years. In contrast, Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients were similar for the five 10 year periods. After grouping by adjusted GNP distribution, a similar decreasing trend of IMR was observed in all groups. The rate ratio between the group at the lowest quintile and that at the highest quintile ranged from 4 to 5. The analysis of variance for repeated observations showed that there is a significant reduction in the IMR ( F =130.18; p F =1.16; p=0.32), and that they were approximately linear ( F =155.83; p Conclusions: Despite a sizable reduction in the infant mortality, whether or not income related, levels of IMR inequality among countries have remained almost constant between 1955 and 1995 in the Region of the Americas. Further analysis and focused interventions are needed to tackle the challenges of reducing these persistent mortality inequalities.

Articles with authors affiliated to Brazilian institutions published from 1994 to 2003 with 100 or more citations: I - the weight of international collaboration and the role of the networks

Abstract: Articles with 100 citations or more in the scientific literature and with at least one author with Brazilian affiliation, were identified in the Thomson-ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) Web of Science bibliometric database, covering a 10-year period, from 1994 to 2003; 248 (0.23%) out of a total of 109,916 articles with Brazilian affiliation were identified. This study was primarily carried out to identify thematic nuclei of excellence in research that had major impact in the international literature (Meneghini and Packer 2006). The regional and institutional affiliation distributions of these articles follow approximately that of the total of Brazilian articles in the ISI database. However, some significant deviations are observed derived from the outstanding performance of a few groups responsible for the publication of the HC-ISI (Highly cited ISI) papers. The international collaboration and the network organization of work played a fundamental role in these results. It is evident that the role played by organizations in research networks as well as the international collaborations exerted strong influence in the impact of these articles, although with distinct amplitude in the different fields.

Premature Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease in the Americas - Will the Goal of a Decline of "25% by 2025" be Met?

Abstract: Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the underlying cause 1.6 million deaths per year in the Americas, accounting for 30% of total mortality and 38% of by non-communicable deaths diseases (NCDs). A 25% reduction in premature mortality due four main NCDs was targeted by the 2011 High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of NCDs. While overall CVD mortality fell in the Americas during the past decade, trends in premature CVD mortality during the same period have not been described, particularly in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Methods This is a population-based trend-series study based on a total of 6,133,666 deaths to describe the trends and characteristics of premature mortality due to CVD and to estimates of the average annual percentage of change during the period 2000–2010 in the Americas. Findings Premature mortality due to CVD in the Americas fell by 21% in the period 2000–2010 with a -2.5% average annual rate of change in the last 5 year—a statistically significant reduction of mortality—. Mortality from ischemic diseases, declined by 25% - 24% among men and 26% among women. Cerebrovascular diseases declined by 27% -26% among men and 28% among women. Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, and Brazil had CVD premature mortality rates over 200 per 100,000 population, while the average for the Region was 132.7. US and Canada will meet the 25% reduction target before 2025. Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Panama, Guyana, and El Salvador did not significantly reduce premature mortality among men and Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and Panama did not achieve the required annual reduction in women. Conclusions Trends in premature mortality due to CVD observed in last decade in the Americas would indicate that if these trends continue, the Region as a whole and a majority of its countries will be able to reach the goal of a 25% relative reduction in premature mortality even before 2025.

Local and foreign authorship of maternal health interventional research in low- and middle-income countries: systematic mapping of publications 2000–2012

Abstract: Researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-represented in scientific literature. Mapping of authorship of articles can provide an assessment of data ownership and research capacity in LMICs over time and identify variations between different settings. Systematic mapping of maternal health interventional research in LMICs from 2000 to 2012, comparing country of study and of affiliation of first authors. Studies on health systems or promotion; community-based activities; and haemorrhage, hypertension, HIV/STIs and malaria were included. Following review of 35,078 titles and abstracts, 2292 full-text publications were included. Data ownership was measured by the proportion of articles with an LMIC lead author (author affiliated with an LMIC institution). The total number of papers led by an LMIC author rose from 45.0/year in 2000–2003 to 98.0/year in 2004–2007, but increased only slightly thereafter to 113.1/year in 2008–2012. In the same periods, the proportion of papers led by a local author was 58.4 %, 60.8 % and 60.1 %, respectively. Data ownership varies markedly between countries. A quarter of countries led more than 75 % of their research; while in 10 countries, under 25 % of publications had a local first author. Researchers at LMIC institutions led 56.6 % (1297) of all papers, but only 26.8 % of systematic reviews (65/243), 29.9 % of modelling studies (44/147), and 33.2 % of articles in journals with an Impact Factor ≥5 (61/184). Sub-Saharan Africa authors led 54.2 % (538/993) of studies in the region, while 73.4 % did in Latin America and the Caribbean (223/304). Authors affiliated with United States (561) and United Kingdom (207) institutions together account for a third of publications. Around two thirds of USAID and European Union funded studies had high-income country leads, twice as many as that of Wellcome Trust and Rockefeller Foundation. There are marked gaps in data ownership and these have not diminished over time. Increased locally-led publications, however, does suggest a growing capacity in LMIC institutions to analyse and articulate research findings. Differences in author attribution between funders might signal important variations in funders’ expectations of authorship and discrepancies in how funders understand collaboration. More stringent authorship oversight and reconsideration of authorship guidelines could facilitate growth in LMIC leadership. Left unaddressed, deficiencies in research ownership will continue to hinder alignment between the research undertaken and knowledge needs of LMICs.