Editorial
With this issue, a new cycle of the Epidemiological Bulletin (EB) is beginning. To start with, it presents a new image, but keeps the objective of keeping readers informed on the most relevant health events in the Region of the Americas, particularly those related to public health and epidemiology. In this new cycle, the EB will reflect challenges that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) faces for the implementation of technical cooperation in three programmatic areas: 1) the unfinished health agenda; 2) the protection of health achievements; 3) the new health challenges.
With regard to the unfinished agenda, there are a variety of unsolved or unconsolidated health situations for which special efforts are required. Among them, emphasis needs to be placed on the reduction of maternal and child mortality rates in countries in the region. This situation is further compounded by deficiencies in information systems or mortality registries that could make it difficult to determine the real dimensions of the problem. This also has led to reliance on the use of estimates and projections which are subject to additional biases and other errors. Furthermore, there are persistent gaps in the control and treatment of some diseases in the region such as AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, among others. Other pending subjects are achieving the universal access to basic health services as well as the basic and continuous training for human resources in public health and epidemiology.
Concerning the protection of health achievements, a number of very important accomplishments have been met in the Region, but some of them are at risk of being lost if control activities are not kept. Examples are: the immunization program, the oral rehydration salts provision, the eradication of poliomyelitis, the elimination of measles as a public health problem, and the maintenance of surveillance and health information systems. These achievements can be overturned as a result of the lack of research, the presence of natural disasters, population movements, wars and violence, social disruption or new risks and diseases. It is important to foresee how some of these situations would be addressed, for instance, by further focalizing and targeting some financial, material and human resources towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
Another issue is the one related to new health challenges. The national health sectors and PAHO should be prepared for new or changing health situations, constructing jointly the capacity to anticipate, and plan suitable actions. Therefore, proper and fast responses to emerging diseases and their new global distribution need to be prepared, facing additional requirements for drug supplies. In addition, preparedness for confronting specific consequences of health determinants such as obesity, environmental factors, or poverty, will be required.
These and other subjects on methodologies, norms and standards of epidemiology and other news related to these topics will be addressed in the EB in different sections in this issue and in upcoming issues.
—from: Epidemiological Bulletin, Vol. 26 No. 1, March 2005