Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Risk factors associated with uncontrolled hypertension: findings from the baseline CARMEN survey in Cienfuegos, Cuba

“…Although less well defined, hypertension likewise contributes significantly to the disease burden experienced by developing countries [2,3] with recent estimates suggesting that 13% of all deaths and 54% of strokes could be attributed to this cause in nonindustrialized societies [4]. Despite its public health impact, hypertension control has not received the attention that it deserves in developing countries, in part because of the limited nature of the surveillance data available [5][6][7]. In the Latin American and Caribbean region, community-based studies of hypertension report prevalence estimates ranging from 15 to 40% of the adult population [5].…”

La salud en Cuba y los objetivos de desarrollo del milenio

“…En los últimos años, la comunidad científica ha advertido del avance de la epidemia de las enfermedades cardiovasculares en países pobres y sus consecuencias para la salud pública (73)(74)(75). Los factores de riesgo cardiovascular siguen una tendencia ascendente, lo que confirma las desalentadoras predicciones sobre la magnitud de esta epidemia en el futuro inmediato (76)(77)(78). La experiencia cubana demuestra que los países en desarrollo pueden avanzar en el control preventivo (64) y médico (16,67,68) de estas enfermedades.…”

Enhancing regional capacity in chronic disease surveillance in the Americas

“…Fourth, the capacity of chronic disease surveillance is uneven in the Americas (9,10). Industrialized countries such as the United State of America (USA) and Canada have developed capacities to conduct surveillance and implement policies to address chronic disease prevention and control.…”

“…As an agency of international advocacy and health promotion and a WHO Regional Office for the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has a mandate to provide technical cooperation to countries in the Region, and works closely with the ministries of health of the 35 member states in the Americas in designing programs to improve health and reduce health inequities throughout the Region (9). PAHO has published important reports for Latin America and the Caribbean on the status of NCD risk factors, health situations and trends (16), as well as the prevalence of hypertension (17) and the prevalence of diabetes (18).…”

“…These surveys were carried out by different groups even within the same country, studied different populations, and measured variables in different ways. That is, risk factor surveys had not been standardized (9).…”