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Technical Areas
Working
on MDG
4
Area of Family and Community Health
more>>
Dr.
Yehuda Benguigui
Family & Community Health
Unit Chief
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Integrated Management
of Childhood Ilnesses
PAHO's
Integrated Management of Childhood
Illness (IMCI),
is part of a global strategy formulated by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It
focuses on the care of children under five, not only in terms of their
overall health status but also on the diseases that may occasionally
affect them
more>>
Vaccination Week
in the Americas
From April 22 to 29,
countries from Canada to the tip of South America and throughout the
Caribbean took part in
Vaccination
Week in the Americas. The beneficiaries of this program are
the millions of children, young women, and seniors, mostly in remote
areas
more>>
Revolving Fund
PAHO's
Revolving Fund
for Vaccine Procurement is a mechanism developed for the purchase of
vaccines, syringes/needles, and cold chain equipment for countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean.
more>>
Regional Strategy
for
Sustaining National Immunization
Programs
in the Americas
PAHO has
undertaken steps to improve the efficiency of the vaccine supply chain
and strengthen participation in the Revolving Fund to ensure safe and
affordable vaccines.
more>> |
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Regional Situation Analysis
Target 5 In
1990-2003, which covers about half the time allowed for achieving the
targets, the health of the American Region’s population improved
significantly, particularly in children. This progress leaves it relatively
well placed by world standards, since infant mortality has fallen faster
there than anywhere else in the world. In 2003, rates were lower in Latin
America and the Caribbean than in any other developing region. However, the
regional infant mortality averages mask wide disparities between countries.
In 2003, five countries displayed levels of infant mortality below 9.2,
which is similar to European rates. By contrast, that same year 12 other
countries had infant mortality levels higher than the regional average of
25.6 per 1,000. The most serious case is that of Haiti, with a rate of over
60 per 1,000.
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MDG 4 |
REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY |
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Health targets |
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Health
Indicators |
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Target
5*
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Reduce by two-thirds,
between 1990 and 2015, the under five mortality rate |
13.
14.
15.
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Under five mortality
rate
Infant mortality rate
Proportion of one-year-
old children immunized against measles |
* target directly
related to health
Target 5 looks at the
situation of child mortality (deaths among children under the age of 5 per
1,000 live births). Since the target is to reduce child mortality by two
thirds, a decline of less than 34.7% between 1990 and 2003 can be regarded
as insufficient progress. The region as a whole has exceeded this level.
Between 1990 and 2003 it recorded a reduction of 40.3%. However, this
achievement has not been shared by all of the countries nor all of the territories
in this target; only 19 out of 36 have shown reductions of less than 34.7%. Taken
as a whole, the evidence suggests that further efforts will be needed to
attain the goal of a two-thirds reduction. It must also be recognized that,
given the differences existing across the countries and territories of the
region, specific measures will have to be taken to reduce the main
determinants of mortality in each situation.
Ten countries in Latin
America and the Caribbean had levels in excess of 40 per 1,000 live births
in 2004, namely Haiti, Bolivia, Guyana, Ecuador, Guatemala, Dominican
Republic, Peru, Honduras, Paraguay and Brazil. Taken together, these
countries accounted for about 270,000 under-five deaths, equivalent to 61%
of all deaths in this age group in the region. In relation to the target of
reducing child mortality by two thirds, the picture that emerges when
changes in this indicator are analyzed is broadly similar to the situation
described for infant mortality; this is because the latter accounts for the
bulk of child mortality. To sum up, while the weighted regional average
decline in infant mortality holds out the hope that the target may be met by
2015, some countries of the region, including several of the poorest, have
not achieved a reduction sufficient for this purpose.
Target 5 also includes an indicator of measles
immunization coverage among children between 12 and 23 months of age. The
coverage of timely immunization against this infection in Latin America and
the Caribbean is high (91%), and this is reflected in the absence of measles
deaths in the region since 2000. All in all, the indicator highlights both
the region’s ability to make major strides with regard to health care and
the need to sustain successful policies so that these results will be
lasting ones.
A is now internationally acknowledged, the
countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are characterized by high
levels of social inequality, which in many respects are actually the highest
in the world. Child mortality is no exception, since historically the most
excluded and vulnerable groups have had higher mortality rates.
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