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Heartline Magazine October - December 2007
Health in the Americas
The Pan American Health Organization has
released the Health in the Americas 2007 report. It offers an
updated, comprehensive presentation of the health situation in
the Americas. It describes and analyzes the progress,
constraints, and challenges of PAHO Member States in their
efforts to improve the health of the peoples of the region.
Here are a few extracts that may be of
interest to readers.
Ischemic heart disease (IHD) rates range
between 35-50 per 100,000 population in Central America and
Mexico, and over 170/100,000 in North America. Mortality rates
for cerebrovascular disease are highest among women in almost
all subregions except for Brazil. Mortality rates for diabetes
continue to be higher among women than men
Non-Latin Caribbean - The leading causes of
death for both sexes are IHD, cerebrovascular disease and
diabetes. This subregion has one of the highest mortality rates
from diabetes in the Americas (60-72/100,000).
Cardiovascular Diseases - CVDs (IHD,
cerebrovascular disease, hypertensive disease and heart failure)
represent 31% of the mortality burden and 10% of the total
disease burden in the world in 2000. The age-and sex-adjusted
mortality rate for CVDs was highest in Nicaragua, the Dominican
Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, exceeding 200/100,000. The
rate in Barbados, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Puerto Rico was below 150/100,000.
Hypertensive diseases - Bahamas has the
highest rate (44.8/100,000) of hypertension and Canada, El
Salvador, Panama and Uruguay have the lowest.
Tobacco use - Among adult men, the countries
with greater proportion of smokers in the Americas are Cuba
(48%), Ecuador (45.5%), Trinidad and Tobago (42.1%) and Peru
(41.5%). Among adult women, tobacco use is more prevalent in
Venezuela (39.2%), Argentina (34%), Brazil (29.3%) and Cuba
(26.3%). Among adolescents 13-15 years old, smoking is more
prevalent among males in Chile (34%), Bolivia (31%) and Peru
(22%); it is more prevalent among females in Chile (43%),
Argentina (30%) and Uruguay (24%).
Diet and lack of physical activity - More
than half the population of the Americas is sedentary. In
several countries, the proportion of the population whose health
is at risk due to the lack of physical activity is close to 60%.
In Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, more than two-thirds of the
population does not engage in physical activity based on levels
recommended for deriving health benefits.
Overweight and obesity - In 2005, it was
estimated that the prevalence of overweight in women 30 years
old and older exceeded 50% in all the countries; in Jamaica and
other Caribbean countries, Mexico, Nicaragua and the US, the
prevalence was higher than 75%.
Educational level and economic status -
Studies have shown that people with little formal education are
at a greater risk for noncommunicable diseases. Diabetes has
been related to low educational levels in many population
studies of adults and older adults.
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