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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

Doctors and nurses

Health workers play a central role in providing health services to the population and improving health outcomes. Access to high-quality health services critically depends on the size, skill-mix, competency, geographic distribution and productivity of the health workforce. Health workers, and in particular doctors and nurses, are the cornerstone of health systems. In most countries, the demand and supply of health workers have increased over time, and for example, in OECD countries jobs in the health and social sector account for more than 10% of total employment (OECD, 2016[1]).

English Also available in: Spanish

Graphs

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