Health Conditions in the Americas, 1961-1964

Abstract

[Preface]. In the Americas the doctrine has become established to consider health a social service, a component of general development and progress. The Governments of the Americas have agreed to fulfill within the decade beginning in 1962 a series of objectives to prevent' disease, to provide timely treatment and rehabilitation for the sick and to promote well being. They have recognized planning as the tool for establishing priorities among the health problems and for allocating resources accordingly so as to benefit the largest number of people. They have stressed that vital and health statistics are essential in all phases of program planning and of evaluating the activities carried out by the health services and the social effects achieved. Progress maybe measured by a reduction in mortality and morbidity, an increase in the quantity of human and material resources and an improvement of the quality of such resources. It has been the desire of the Governments that the Pan American Sanitary Bureau, because of its continuity, should be the depository of the natural history of health conditions in the Americas. They have therefore entrusted the Bureau with the task of collecting from all of them information on vital and health statistics, as well as statistics on resources and on services; of analyzing these statistics, of presenting them in a systematic form, of making the comparisons indicated and of drawing attention to the progress or lack of progress revealed by the language of numbers. This mandate is the reason for the present publication, the fifth in a series initiated in 1950. In its organization the present report is similar to the previous ones which makes it possible to show in a few chapters the trend of certain phenomena. Nevertheless this report includes new material on activities that by virtue of having acquired a certain importance have given rise to valuable information which should be recorded. It suffices to mention those related to medical-care and to life expectancy, two questions that have acquired particular importance in this continent in recent years. The statistical data presented in the following pages reveal progress when compared with previous reports. However the data are still deficient in quantity andquality; they are far from reflecting reality with respect to the majority of health problems. Nevertheless they are of considerable value for identifying those problems that have priority, for assessing the availability of resources and the possibilities of planning. Also, the report makes it possible to form a judgment as to the health conditions in the Americas, their recent past and immediate future. As the data are further improved - and the extensive statistical program of the Organization is contributing to this goal- it will become possible to formulate programs, allocate resources and invest funds on a more rational basis; in short, to accelerate progress.