“Many communities and people currently live in such a fragile situation that their right to health is not guaranteed,” said the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr Jarbas Barbosa, at the 60th session of the WHO Administrative Council. The body held this week.
He stressed that indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, low-income populations, those living in informal settlements or remote areas, migrants, women and girls, and members of the LGBTQI+ community, have their health and well-being disproportionately affected by restrictions. Social, economic and discrimination.
The organization’s data shows that only 25% of the goals in the region are on track to be achieved by 2030, while nearly 50% of them are moving in the right direction but very slowly, while the remaining 25% are declining in Latin America. Caribbean.
In addition, inequalities between countries are also increasing.
Currently, approximately 45 percent of people under the age of 18 in the Americas live in poverty.
In 2022, hunger affected 56.5 million people in the region, a number that has risen by 13.2 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, life expectancy at birth also decreased by three years, between 2019 and 2021, falling from 75.1 to 72.1 years, the largest decline among all regions of the world.
Barbosa emphasized that since 2015, the Americas have witnessed a deterioration in levels of well-being, a stagnation in educational achievements and an increase in poverty rates, a situation that has been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic.
“To achieve more equitable societies, we must focus on the social, economic and political conditions that hinder the ability of some populations to enjoy the highest possible levels of health and well-being, including access to quality health services,” the UNDP Administrator added. Bahu.
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