This book describes the principal conceptual, methodological, and empirical developments stemming from PAHO and WHO's institutional efforts in public health, which have entailed the broad and committed participation of the Member States. It provides and overview of the status of Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF) in 41 countries and territories of the Americas, based on self-evaluation exercises performed by health authorities to measure their performance.

The 2002 edition of this quadrennial publication presents a regional analysis of the health situation and trends in the Americas region, as well as for each of the 47 countries and territories in the region. It is published in two volumes and covers mainly the years from 1997-2000. This edition focuses upon the inequalities in health. Volume One looks at issues dealing with leading health and health-related indicators, ranging from mortality and changes in life expectancy to the relationship between health and income distribution. It also considers current health conditions and trends including disease prevention and control, health promotion and environmental protection. Volume Two examines each country's overall health conditions, including institutional organisation, health regulations and the overall operation of health services.

Volume I describes the health situation from a regional perspective and contains a series of chapters that identify and analyze the most important general, demographic, and mortality trends of the period; major determinants of health as seen from a variety of political, social, economic, and financial standpoints; principal trends and characteristics of the ongoing health sector reform movement; the role of individuals and communities in promoting health; the association between the physical environment and human living conditions; principal diseases and health problems; the extent of human an.

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Americans are accustomed to anecdotal evidence of the health care crisis. Yet, personal or local stories do not provide a comprehensive nationwide picture of our access to health care. Now, this book offers the long-awaited health equivalent of national economic indicators. This useful volume defines a set of national objectives and identifies indicatorsâ€"measures of utilization and outcomeâ€"that can "sense" when and where problems occur in accessing specific health care services. Using the indicators, the committee presents significant conclusions about the situation today, examining the relationships between access to care and factors such as income, race, ethnic origin, and location. The committee offers recommendations to federal, state, and local agencies for improving data collection and monitoring. This highly readable and well-organized volume will be essential for policymakers, public health officials, insurance companies, hospitals, physicians and nurses, and interested individuals.

"The Nation has lost sight of its public health goals and has allowed the system of public health to fall into 'disarray'," from The Future of Public Health. This startling book contains proposals for ensuring that public health service programs are efficient and effective enough to deal not only with the topics of today, but also with those of tomorrow. In addition, the authors make recommendations for core functions in public health assessment, policy development, and service assurances, and identify the level of government--federal, state, and local--at which these functions would best be handled.