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.

Measuring evolution of income-related inequalities in health and health care utilization in selected Latin American and Caribbean countries

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To describe the methodology used to measure and explain income-related inequalities in health and health care utilization over time in selected Latin American and Caribbean countries. METHODS: Data from nationally representative household surveys in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Peru were used to analyze income-related inequalities in health status and health care utilization. Health was measured by self-reported health status, physical limitations, and chronic illness when available. Hospitalization, physician, dentist, preventive, curative, and preventive visits were proxies for health care utilization. Household income was a proxy for socioeconomic status except in Peru, which used household expenditures. Concentration indices were calculated before and after standardization for all dependent variables. Standardized concentration indices are also referred to as horizontal inequity index. Decomposition analysis was used to identify the main determinants of inequality in health care utilization. RESULTS: Results of analysis of the evolution of income-related inequality in health and health care utilization in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Peru are presented in separate articles in this issue. CONCLUSIONS: The methodology used for analysis of equity in all six country research studies attempts not to determine causality but to describe and explain income-related inequalities in health status and health care utilization over time. While this methodology is robust, it is not free of errors. When possible, errors have been identified and corrected.

Nucleic Acid Malaria Vaccines

Abstract: During the twentieth century, the primary approach to malaria prevention has been to interfere with transmission of the parasite between the infected mosquito and the human host using physical barriers, insecticides and prophylactic drugs Despite these measures, it is estimated that there are 300-500 new Plasmodium infections and 1-2 million deaths annually due to malaria Thus, there have been major efforts to develop malaria vaccines This is thought to be a feasible approach because immunization with radiation-attenuated Plasmodium spp sporozoites induces sterile protective immunity against malaria in rodents, primates and humans(reviewed in Ref 2) The complex life cycle of the Plasmodium spp parasites and the extensive variability among strains of the same Plasmodium species dictate, however, that an effective malaria vaccine will probably need to induce protective antibodies as well as effector CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes specific for variants of multiple antigens expressed at different stages of the life cycle It is our view that nucleic acid vaccines offer an excellent approach to developing a multivalent vaccine that effectively activates all arms of the immune system Furthermore, such vaccines may overcome the additional problem inherent in subunit vaccine development: major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restriction of the protective immune responses to identified target epitopes Supporting data and rationale for our view are presented here The major emphasis of the work thus far has been to use plasmid DNA to induce protective CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), but the induction of protective antibody and CD4+ T cell responses is being investigated

Alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract: Objective. To assess the association between drinking behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, anxiety symptoms, and sociodemographic characteristics in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Method. Data was collected through a cross-sectional online survey (non-probabilistic sample) conducted by the Pan American Health Organization between May 22 and June 30, 2020, in 33 countries and two territories of LAC. Participants were 18 years of age or older and must not have traveled outside of their country since March 15, 2020 (n= 12 328, M age= 38.1 years, 65% female). Four drinking behaviors (online socializing drinking [OSD], drinking with child present [DCP], drinking before 5 p.m. [DB5]), heavy episodic drinking [HED]) were response variables, and quarantining, anxiety symptoms and sociodemographic covariables were explanatory variables. Results. Quarantine was positively associated with a higher frequency of OSD and with DCP, but negatively associated with a higher frequency of HED. Anxiety symptoms were associated with a higher frequency of HED, more OSD, and DB5. Higher incomes seemed to be more associated with all the studied drinking behaviors. Women tended to report less DB5 and less HED during the pandemic. Conclusions. Quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to affect drinking behavior and mental health indicators like anxiety symptoms. This study is the first effort to measure the consequences of the quarantine on alcohol consumption and mental health in LAC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the associations found, screenings and brief interventions targeting alcohol consumption and mental health are recommended.