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Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020

image of Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020

Health at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean 2020 presents key indicators on health and health systems in 33 Latin America and the Caribbean countries. This first Health at a Glance publication to cover the Latin America and the Caribbean region was prepared jointly by OECD and the World Bank. Analysis is based on the latest comparable data across almost 100 indicators including equity, health status, determinants of health, health care resources and utilisation, health expenditure and financing, and quality of care. The editorial discusses the main challenges for the region brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as managing the outbreak as well as mobilising adequate resources and using them efficiently to ensure an effective response to the epidemic. An initial chapter summarises the comparative performance of countries before the crisis, followed by a special chapter about addressing wasteful health spending that is either ineffective or does not lead to improvement in health outcomes so that to direct saved resources where they are urgently needed.

English Also available in: Spanish

Child malnutrition

A key component of human capital is healthy and well-nourished people throughout their lives, but many children are not able to access sufficient, safe nutritious food and a balanced diet that meets their needs for optimal growth and development, to enable an active and healthy life. Globally, it is estimated that 150.8 million children are stunted, 50.5 million are wasted, and 38.3 million are overweight (Development Initiatives, 2018[11]). Hence, many countries are facing a double burden of malnutrition – characterised by the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight, obesity or diet related NCDs – a health challenge on the rise in many LAC countries. Child malnutrition also contributes to poorer cognitive and educational outcomes in later childhood and adolescence, which in turn affect lifelong potential and heavily determines the socio-economic status of the individual.

English Also available in: Spanish

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