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.

The decline in mortality due to acute complications of diabetes mellitus in Brazil, 1991–2010

Abstract: Mortality from acute complications of diabetes, a predominantly preventable condition, although controlled in high income countries, remains a major challenge for low/middle income countries. The aim of this study is to describe trends in mortality from acute complications of diabetes between 1991 and 2010 in Brazil, a period during which a national health system was implemented offering broad access to diabetes treatment. We obtained the number of deaths listed in the Brazilian Mortality Information System between 1991 and 2010 as due to acute complications of diabetes (ICD-9 250.1, .2, or .3 and ICD-10 E10–14.0 or 1), corrected this number for ill-defined causes of death and incompleteness in mortality reporting, and calculated mortality rates standardized to the world’s population. We describe mortality trends with Joinpoint regressions. Over this 20 year period, mortality due to the acute complications of diabetes fell 70.9 % (95 % CI 67.2 to 74.5 %), from 8.42 (95 % CI 8.27 to 8.57) deaths per 100000 inhabitants in 1991 to 2.45 (95 % CI 2.38 to 2.52) per 100000 in 2010. The reduction occurred in men and women, in all age groups, and in all regions of Brazil. Mortality from acute complications of diabetes in Brazil has declined markedly in parallel with the implementation of a national health system providing access to insulin and organization of health care. Further decline is possible and necessary.

Implementation of basic quality control tests for malaria medicines in Amazon Basin countries: results for the 2005–2010 period

Abstract: Ensuring the quality of malaria medicines is crucial in working toward malaria control and eventual elimination. Unlike other validated tests that can assess all critical quality attributes, which is the standard for determining the quality of medicines, basic tests are significantly less expensive, faster, and require less skilled labour; yet, these tests provide reproducible data and information on several critical quality attributes, such as identity, purity, content, and disintegration. Visual and physical inspection also provides valuable information about the manufacturing and the labelling of medicines, and in many cases this inspection is sufficient to detect counterfeit medicines. The Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) programme has provided technical assistance to Amazon Malaria Initiative (AMI) countries to implement the use of basic tests as a key screening mechanism to assess the quality of malaria medicines available to patients in decentralized regions. Trained personnel from the National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCPs), often in collaboration with country’s Official Medicine Control Laboratory (OMCL), developed country- specific protocols that encompassed sampling methods, sample analysis, and data reporting. Sampling sites were selected based on malaria burden, accessibility, and geographical location. Convenience sampling was performed and countries were recommended to store the sampled medicines under conditions that did not compromise their quality. Basic analytical tests, such as disintegration and thin layer chromatography (TLC), were performed utilizing a portable mini-laboratory. Results were originally presented at regional meetings in a non-standardized format that lacked relevant medicines information. However, since 2008 information has been submitted utilizing a template specifically developed by PQM for that purpose. From 2005 to 2010, the quality of 1,663 malaria medicines from seven AMI countries was evaluated, mostly collected from the public sector, 1,445/1,663 (86.9%). Results indicate that 193/1,663 (11.6%) were found not to meet quality specifications. Most failures were reported during visual and physical inspection, 142/1663 (8.5%), and most of these were due to expired medicines, 118/142 (83.1%). Samples failing TLC accounted for 27/1,663 (1.6%) and those failing disintegration accounted for 24/1,663 (1.4%). Medicines quality failures decreased significantly during the last two years. Basic tests revealed that the quality of medicines in the public sector improved over the years, since the implementation of this type of quality monitoring programme in 2005. However, the lack of consistent confirmatory tests in the quality control (QC) laboratory, utilizing methods that can also evaluate additional quality attributes, could still mask quality issues. In the future, AMI countries should improve coordination with their health authorities and their QC lab consistently, to provide a more complete picture of malaria medicines quality and support the implementation of corrective actions. Facilities in the private and informal sectors also should be included when these sectors constitute an important source of medicines used by malaria patients.

Opportunistic Infections in Pediatric HIV Infection: A study of 74 Autopsy Cases from Latin America: The Latin American AIDS Pathology Study Group

Abstract: The present report describes opportunistic infections found at 74 autopsies of pediatric HIV/AIDS patients performed at several hospitals in Latin American countries. Fungal infections were the most common (53 cases), Candida sp. (39.18 %) and Pneumocystis carinii (20.27%) being the most frequently recognized. Other fungal diseases included histoplasmosis, aspergillosis, and cryptococcosis. Viral infections were present in 31 cases, 38.7% being due to cytomegalovirus. Other viruses recognized included herpes simplex and adenovirus. Additional opportunistic infections were due to Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, toxoplasmosis, and tuberculosis. Nonspecific bacterial bronchopneumonia was present in 11 cases. Cytomegalovirus and P. carinii coinfection was the most common association found. In this series patients died at a younger age (72% at or younger than 1 year old) and there was a slightly higher number of cases of histoplasmosis and. brain toxoplasmosis than in other previously published series of i...

The Incidence of Injuries in Young People: II Log-Linear Multivariable Models for Risk Factors in a Collaborative Study in Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Venezuela

Abstract: Injuries and accidents are acknowledged as leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children and adolescents in the developing countries of the world. The Pan American Health Organization sponsored a collaborative study in four selected countries in Latin America to study the extent of the problem as well as to examine the potential risk factors associated with selected non-fatal injuries in the countries. The study subjects were injured children and adolescents (0-19 years of age) presenting at the study hospitals in chosen urban centres, as well as injured that were surveyed in households in the catchment areas of the hospitals. Study methods and descriptive frequency results were presented earlier. In this paper, log-linear multivariate regression models are used to examine the potentiating effects within country of several measured variables on specific types of injuries. The significance of risk factors varied between countries; however, some general patterns emerged. Falls were more likely in younger children, and occurred at home. The main risk factor for home accidents was the age of the child. The education of the head of the household was an important risk factor for the type of injury suffered. The likelihood of traffic accident injury varied with time of day and day of the week, but also was more likely in higher educated households. The results found are consistent with those found in other studies in the developed world and suggest specific areas of concern for health planners to address.