DIVThe first comprehensive study of tuberculosis in Latin America demonstrates that in addition to being a biological phenomenon disease is also a social construction effected by rhetoric, politics, and the daily life of its victims./div
DIVEdited volume that takes a non-traditional approach to the history of medicine in Latin America, and emphasizes the cultural and social construction of disease./div
This book critically analyses the influence of international policies and guidelines on the performance of interventions aimed at reducing health inequities in Latin America, with special emphasis on health promotion and health in all policies strategies. While the implementation of these interventions plays a key role in strengthening these countries’ capacity to respond to current and future challenges, the urgency and pressures of cooperation and funding agencies to show results consistent with their own agendas not only hampers this goal, but also makes the territory invisible, hiding the real problems faced by most Latin American countries, diminishing the richness of local knowledge production, and hindering the development of relevant proposals that consider the territory’s conditions and cultural identity. Departing from this general analysis, the authors search for answers to the following questions: Why, despite the importance of the theoretical advances r egarding actions to address social and health inequities, haven’t Latin American countries been able to produce the expected results? Why do successful initiatives only take place within the framework of pilot projects? Why does the ideology of health promotion and health in all policies mainly permeate structures of the health sector, but not other sectors? Why are intersectoral actions conjunctural initiatives, which often fail to evolve into permanent practices? Based on an extensive literature review, case studies, personal experiences, and interviews with key informants in the region, Globalization and Health Inequities in Latin America presents a strategy that uses monitoring and evaluation practices for enhancing the capacity of Latin American and other low and middle-income countries to implement sustainable processes to foster inclusiveness, equity, social justice and human rights. p/pp
In the form of a sociological pilgrimage, this book approaches some topics essential to understanding the role of science in Latin America, juxtaposing several approaches and exploring three main lines: First, the production and use of knowledge in these countries, viewed from a historical and sociological point of view; second, the reciprocal construction of scientific and public problems, presented through significant cases such as Latin American Chagas Disease; and third, the past and present asymmetries affecting the relationships between centers and peripheries in scientific research. These topics show the paradox of being at the same time "modern" and "peripheral."
The recent financial meltdown has brought notable changes to the global practice of health care changes that have often escaped the American news media. Although Western managed-care corporations previously had strengthened their influence abroad, now many countries are considering new approaches to health care for their citizens.The untold story of how corporations have influenced global health care and the impacts now in America as the system rapidly shifts is Dr. Waitzkin s subject in his provocative new book. We now live in a new era in which the prospects for more humane approaches to health care are taking root. Strengthening access and improving public health are at the heart of the many previously little-noted struggles and actions by individuals, groups, and whole nations to put control back in the hands of patients and practitioners, as Americans of many political stripes seem to universally seek. The impacts of these changes in the United States are considerable, and they are amply illustrated by Dr. Waitzkin as the United States attempts to reorient its own system of care.Selected as the 2012 winner of the Freidson Outstanding Publication Award by the American Sociological Association for its "bold and timely analysis of the global political economy of contemporary crises in health and medical care. By presenting the lessons learned from social medicine (past and present), [it] outlines a macro-sociologically informed response to these crises.""
En comparación con la mayoría de los países de África y las cercanas islas del Caribe, la mayoría de los países latinoamericanos no han enfrentado todavía una epidemia en gran escala de SIDA. No obstante, una serie de tendencias recientes indican que si los países de America Latina no toman pronto medidas adecuadas de prevención, la incidencia de la enfermedad podría alcanzar proporciones epidémicas. Las políticas apropiadas y oportunas pueden limitar las repercusiones actuales y futuras del VIH/SIDA en los sistemas de atención de salud, las economías y las sociedades de América Latina. Muchos países de la Región se han mostrado dispuestos a enfrentar las dimensiones y la índole especial del problema representado por el VIH/SIDA; desde mediados de los años ochenta, esos países han establecido nuevas estructuras y los cimientos necesarios para las respuestas comunitarias. Aun así, subsisten numerosos retos para el futuro. El VIH/SIDA en los países latinoamericanos: los retos y futuros presenta información reciente y actualizada acerca de la extensión y las tendencias de la epidemia de VIH/SIDA en América Latina. En esta obra se evalúa la capacidad actual de vigilancia en los países, se examina las respuestas nacionales del sector de la salud a la epidemia en cada país, se identifican las áreas fundamentales en las que se requieren con urgencia intervenciones específicas y se describen los retos futuros. El estudio se basa en nuevas investigaciones patrocinadas por el Banco Mundial, análisis de información secundaria y datos concernientes a 17 países: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Venezuela y Uruguay.
This book provides a comprehensive resource on various aspects of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and the neglected tropical disease Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis), the disorder resulting from infection with the parasite. Topics include the biological description and taxonomy of the parasite, epidemiology and transmission routes, laboratory techniques in use when working with the parasite, as well as diagnostic measures and treatment of Chagas disease. Furthermore, a chapter with life stories of people in contact with the disease in endemic as well as non-endemic countries is included. The book is therefore a valuable source for individuals engaged in basic research as well as patient care and health management related to American trypanosomiasis.