CD44/15 - Impact of Violence on the Health of the Populations in the Americas

In 1993 the Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization assumed that violence in all its manifestations is a public health priority that threatens the development of peoples, undermines their quality of life, and erodes the social fabric, reaffirming that assumption in 1996. The Region of the Americas is one of the regions with the highest levels of violence, a phenomenon that has had a significant negative impact, particularly in the countries where the incidence is greatest. It is estimated that more than 120,000 people are murdered each year and more than 55,000 commit suicide. Women and children are the victims of domestic violence; young people are both victims and perpetrators of street violence; and sexual violence and violence in the workplace undermine the physical and psychological health of the people involved. Land mines leave their victims seriously compromised. 

Violence is defined as intentional acts of aggression of multiple causality that are learned behavior—acts that by the same token can be prevented, avoided, or “unlearned” Diverse activities have been promoted in the countries or undertaken in the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, pursuant to the mandates of the Directing Council. There is a need to continue prevention projects, implement the guidelines of the Strategic Plan 2003-2007, and establish a second plan of action that adapts the recommendations of the first Plan of Action, approved in 1994, to the current situation. Furthermore, tools such as the World Report on Violence and Health and other documents are available for consultation and efforts to deal with various types of violence, providing information on successful and unsuccessful practices. 

Greater commitment on the part of national and municipal governments is needed for the execution of sustained intersectoral plans and programs. The health sector plays a key role not only in treating and rehabilitating victims but in implementing prevention projects, developing information systems, and promoting research on the causes and risk factors of violence. Communities and civic organizations have the right to participate in the search for and implementation of violence prevention projects. 

The Directing Council is invited to study this document and establish guidelines for the Organization’s policy for the Regional Prevention of Violence