scholarly journals Regional Overview on the Double Burden of Malnutrition and Examples of Program and Policy Responses: Latin America and the Caribbean

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143
Author(s):  
Ruben Grajeda ◽  
Trevor Hassell ◽  
Kimberly Ashby-Mitchell ◽  
Ricardo Uauy ◽  
Eduardo Nilson
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
School Nutrition ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Double Burden Of Malnutrition ◽  
The Caribbean

Background: Hunger, food insecurity, stunting, anemia, overweight, and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) may coexist in the same person, household, and community in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The double burden of malnutrition (DBM) is an important cause of disability and premature death, which could be addressed with comprehensive policies such as the Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents. This paper summarizes the main policies and actions aimed to prevent undernutrition and obesity. Summary: Several countries are implementing the Plan of Action, Caribbean Public Health Agency is actively supporting Ministries of Health, Education, and Sport to develop school nutrition policies and strategies to create health-promoting environments at school and in their surrounding communities. Chile is implementing the comprehensive child protection system “Chile Crece Contigo” that integrates health, social development, and educational activities to optimize growth and childhood cognitive-motor development. Brazil is implementing policies and plans to commit to international targets regarding food and nutrition security, NCDs and their risk factors. Key Messages: The DBM exists in the Americas and contributes to disability and premature death. The Region is making progress implementing policies and actions addressing the DBM. However, stronger political will and leadership are needed to enact legislation and policies that create and support enabling ­environments.

Health Diplomacy in the Political Process of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Buss ◽  
Sebastián Tobar
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Health Diplomacy ◽  
The Caribbean

The construction of the concepts of diplomacy and health diplomacy must consider their conceptions and practices, at both the global and regional levels. Health diplomacy is vitally important in a global context, where health problems cross national borders and more new stakeholders appear every day, both within and outside the health sector. On the other hand, regional integration processes provide excellent opportunities for collective actions and solutions to many of the health challenges at the global level. In the current global context, the best conditions for dealing with many health challenges are found at the global level, but the regional and subregional spheres also play essential roles. The region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) consists of 26 countries or territories that occupy a territory of 7,412,000 square miles—almost 13% of the Earth’s land surface area; it extends from Mexico to Patagonia, where about 621 million people live (as of 2015), distributed among different ethnic groups. Geographically, it is divided into Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, but it presents subregions with populations and cultures that are a little more homogenous, like the subregions of the Andes and the English Caribbean. By its characteristics, LAC has acquired increasing global political and economic importance. In the 1960s, integration processes began in the region, including the creation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Mercosur, the Andean Community, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Central American System, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), the Sistema Económico Latinoamericano y del Caribe (SELA), the Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (ALADI), and finally, since 2010, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, or CELAC), which is the most comprehensive integrative organization. While originally a mechanism for political and economic integration, health is now an important component of all the abovementioned integration processes, with growing social, political, and economic importance in each country and in the region, currently integrating the most important regional and global negotiations. Joint protection against endemic diseases and epidemics, as well as noncommunicable diseases, coordination of border health care, joint action on the international scene (particularly in multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and its main agencies), and the sectoral economic importance of health are among the main situations and initiatives related to health diplomacy in these integration processes. The effectiveness of integration actions—and health within those actions—varies according to the political orientations of the national governments in each conjuncture, amplifying or reducing the spectrum of activities performed. The complexity of both the present and future of this rich political process of regional health diplomacy is also very important for global health governance (GHG).

scholarly journals Regional Overview on the Double Burden of Malnutrition and Examples of Program and Policy Responses: African Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelheid W. Onyango ◽  
Juddy Jean-Baptiste ◽  
Betty Samburu ◽  
Tshimi Lynn Moeng Mahlangu
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
African Region ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Double Burden Of Malnutrition ◽  
Sub Saharan

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) with high levels of undernutrition and a growing burden of overweight/obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Undernourishment in sub-Saharan Africa increased between 2010 and 2016. Although the prevalence of chronic undernutrition is decreasing, the number of stunted children under 5 years of age is increasing due to population growth. Meanwhile, overweight/obesity is increasing in all age groups, with girls and women being more affected than boys and men. It is increasingly recognized that the drivers of the DBM originate outside the health sector and operate across national and regional boundaries. Largely unregulated marketing of cheap processed foods and nonalcoholic beverages as well as lifestyle changes are driving consumption of unhealthy diets in the African region. Progress toward the goal of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030 requires intensified efforts to reduce undernutrition and focused action on the reduction of obesity and diet-related NCDs. The World Health Organization is developing a strategic plan to guide governments and development partners in tackling all forms of malnutrition through strengthened policies, improved service delivery, and better use of data. It is only through coordinated and complementary efforts that strides can be made to reduce the DBM.

scholarly journals Strengthened Data Systems to Mitigate the Double Burden of Malnutrition: The Role of Stable Isotope Technique-Derived Nutrition Indicators

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-122
Author(s):  
Victor O. Owino ◽  
Theodora Mouratidou
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Metabolic Response ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Data Systems ◽  
Population Surveys ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Double Burden Of Malnutrition

Indicators reflecting the double burden of malnutrition are rarely measured in nutrition surveys and are needed to strengthen national data systems. Indicators such as body composition reflect both metabolic response to undernutrition and obesity risk and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases. Stable isotope techniques (SITs) provide accurate data on body composition, exclusive breastfeeding and vitamin A status that are otherwise problematic with routine methods. Integration of SIT-derived nutrition indicators in data systems could improve the design and evaluation of programmes focused on obesity prevention, food fortification and infant and young child feeding practices. The Working Group at the symposium considered “how SIT-derived nutrition indicators may be integrated into surveillance systems to strengthen data availability and capacity at national and regional levels”. Practical considerations for the use of SITs include cost, sample size, rigorous training and logistics. It was concluded that SITs are best suited, at present, for use in sub-samples of population surveys and for validating tools that can be scaled-up more easily in population surveys. In the long term, SITs could be applied to larger surveys following potential innovations in more affordable, hand-held devices for analysis of stable isotope enrichment in the field and simpler specimen collection protocols.

scholarly journals Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Time for Action

PLoS Medicine ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. e344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Perel ◽  
Juan P Casas ◽  
Zulma Ortiz ◽  
J. Jaime Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
The Caribbean

scholarly journals Perspectives on Strengthening Cancer Research and Control in Latin America Through Partnerships and Diplomacy: Experience of the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Global Health

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Frech ◽  
Catherine A. Muha ◽  
Lisa M. Stevens ◽  
Edward L. Trimble ◽  
Roxanne Brew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Research ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Cancer Multiple ◽  
And Control

According to the Pan American Health Organization, noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, are the leading causes of preventable and premature death in the Americas. Governments and health care systems in Latin America face numerous challenges as a result of increasing morbidity and mortality from cancer. Multiple international organizations have recognized the need for collaborative action on and technical support for cancer research and control in Latin America. The Center for Global Health at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI-CGH) is one entity among many that are working in the region and has sought to develop a strategy for working in Latin America that draws on and expands the collaborative potential of engaged, skilled, and diverse partners. NCI-CGH has worked toward developing and implementing initiatives in collaboration with global partners that share the common objectives of building a global cancer research community and translating research results into evidence-informed policy and practice. Both objectives are complementary and synergistic and are additionally supported by an overarching strategic framework that is focused on partnerships and science diplomacy. This work highlights the overall strategy for NCI-CGH engagement in Latin America through partnerships and diplomacy, and highlights selected collaborative efforts that are aimed at improving cancer outcomes in the region.

scholarly journals Regional and global impacts of the 2007 Port-of-Spain Declaration on noncommunicable diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kirton ◽  
W. Andy Knight ◽  
C. James Hospedales ◽  
Dinah Hippolyte ◽  
Julia Kulik
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
World Health ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Global Impacts ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
High Level

Objective.To assess how well Caribbean regional institutions (RIs) met their commitments from the 2007 Port-of-Spain Summit (POSS) declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and evaluate the POSS impact on the United Nations High-level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs in 2011 (2011 HLM), HLM NCD review in 2014 (2014 HLM), World Health Organization’s 2025 NCD targets (2025 WHO), and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon in 2015.Methods.This study uses a method developed by the University of Toronto’s Global Governance Program to measure institutions’ compliance with commitments from a summit and the match with commitments from earlier summits. This approach was supplemented using data from published literature, primary documents, and semistructured key informant interviews to detail how and why Caribbean RIs met the 2007 POSS commitments, how the 2007 POSS commitments led to compliance, and how the 2007 POSS influenced international NCD commitments.Results.Caribbean RIs implemented the 2007 POSS commitments better when they had more public legitimacy, when their missions aligned with those commitments, and when more resources were available to them. Implementation constraints arose from multiple, sometimes competing, interests of the decision-making and national implementing bodies of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Internationally, the early, expanding efforts of the POSS pioneers had an initially important but subsequently diminishing impact on the HLMs.Conclusions.For the Caribbean region, the Caribbean Public Health Agency should be funded to lead strengthened Caribbean RIs in coordinated action on NCDs. At the international level, the United Nations should embed NCDs in a “whole-of-global-governance” approach, monitor implementation annually, foster transregional partnerships on NCD-related themes, engage civil society, and support regular regional and global summits to enhance implementation and improvement, aimed at future HLMs on NCDs, the 2025 WHO targets, and the SDG NCD targets.

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