Salud, desarrollo humano y gobernabilidad en America Latina y el Caribe a inicios del siglo XXI / Health, human development, and governance in Latin America and the Caribbean at the beginning of the 21st century

The issue of the reciprocal relationship between health and development has recently taken on greater importance in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), given the persistence of extreme poverty and the political and social difficulties due to macroeconomic imbalances and crises of governance. This piece reviews concepts of sustainable human development, social determinants of health in general and of health inequities in particular (gender, ethnic group, income level), and the relationship between health and economic growth in the medium term and the long term. An analysis is made of how persistent poverty in countries of LAC relates to disparities in health conditions, access to health services, and health care financing, as well as to such health determinants as nutrition and environmental sanitation. Health inequities most strongly affect the most excluded and vulnerable sectors of the population. In the face of this situation, the author stresses that putting a priority on health inequities is vital to safe-guarding the governability and the social and political stability of countries in LAC in the next decade (AU)

Action for public health report of the Sundsvall Conference on Health Promotions 9-17 June, Sweden

A global conference on Health Promotion was held in Sundsvall, Sweden which focussed on Supportive Environments for health. The conference was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the nordic countries in association with the United Nations Environment Programme. Three hundred and eighteen participants from eighty-one countries examined the interdependence between health and environment in its physical, cultural, economic and political dimensions. It was unique in that half of the participants came from developing countries (AU)