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Inequities in health and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean

© SL_Photography / Getty Images / iStockEdited by: Pablo Gaitán Rossi, Daniela Rodríguez, Ana Lorena Ruano, and Daniel Maceira

This article collection in International Journal for Equity in Health showcases research on inequities in health and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through it, we seek to contribute to the understanding and development of pro-equity policies that can strengthen national health systems and improve access to quality health services for the under-served on the road to achieving universal health coverage.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

  1. Belize has the highest national prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) of Central and South America, and fifth direst in the world. T2D is the leading cause of death in Belize, a country facing burdens of increas...

    Authors: Lindsay P. Allen, Lucia Ellis, Christophe Engleton, Valerie Lynette Valerio and Andrew R. Hatala
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:163
  2. Life expectancy (LE) has usually been used as a metric to monitor population health. In the last few years, metrics such as Quality-Adjusted-Life-Expectancy (QALE) and Health-Adjusted-Life- Expectancy (HALE) h...

    Authors: Manuel Antonio Espinoza, Rodrigo Severino, Carlos Balmaceda, Tomas Abbott and Baltica Cabieses
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:160
  3. Although most Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries made important progress in maternal and child health indicators from the 1990s up to 2010, little is known about such progress in the last decade....

    Authors: Oscar J. Mujica, Antonio Sanhueza, Liliana Carvajal-Velez, Luis Paulo Vidaletti, Janaína C. Costa, Aluísio J. D. Barros and Cesar G. Victora
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:125
  4. Barriers to accessing health care result in advanced cervical cancer. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Index of Social Responsibility (ISR) synthesizes the situation of each town concerning wealth, education, and lon...

    Authors: Juan Fernando Galindo, Giovana Moura Formigari, Luiz Carlos Zeferino, Carla Fabrine Carvalho, Edson Luiz Ursini and Diama Bhadra Vale
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:102
  5. Syphilis is among the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide. When it occurs during pregnancy, it can seriously affect the fetus and newborn`s health. The scarcity of studies on maternal and con...

    Authors: Andrey Moreira Cardoso, Aline Diniz Rodrigues Caldas, Evelin Santos Oliveira, Enny Santos Paixão, Maria Auxiliadora Santos Soares, Idália Oliveira dos Santos, Maurício Lima Barreto and Maria Yury Travassos Ichihara
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:84
  6. As the leading cause of disability and the fourth leading cause of premature death in Mexico, type 2 diabetes (T2D) represents a serious public health concern. The incidence of diabetes has increased dramatica...

    Authors: Héctor Gallardo-Rincón, María Jesús Ríos-Blancas, Alejandra Montoya, Rodrigo Saucedo-Martínez, Linda Morales-Juárez, Ricardo Mujica, Alejandra Cantoral, Lorena Suarez Idueta, Rafael Lozano and Roberto Tapia-Conyer
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:61
  7. Efforts to promote equity in healthcare involve implementing policies and programs that address the root causes of healthcare disparities and promote equal access to care. One such program is the public social...

    Authors: Felician Andrew Kitole, Robert Michael Lihawa and Eliaza Mkuna
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:50
  8. Some reports suggest there are differences in health needs between the population affiliated to the subsidized health insurance scheme (SS) and those affiliated to the contributory health insurance scheme (CS)...

    Authors: Laura Mora-Moreo, Kelly Estrada-Orozco, Oscar Espinosa and Lorena Mesa Melgarejo
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:28
  9. The processing of food can cause changes that turn them into risk factors for chronic diseases. A higher degree of food processing is associated with the development of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs)...

    Authors: Lídia Bezerra Barbosa, Nancy Borges Rodrigues Vasconcelos, Ewerton Amorim dos Santos, Tamara Rodrigues dos Santos, Thays Ataide-Silva and Haroldo da Silva Ferreira
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2023 22:14
  10. Biomedical technologies have the potential to be advantageous in remote communities. However, information about barriers faced by users of technology in general and in remote Indigenous communities is scarce. ...

    Authors: Tiana Bressan, Andrea Valdivia-Gago, Rosa M. Silvera-Ccallo, Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas, Daniel F. Condor, Pierre G. Padilla-Huamantinco, Stalin Vilcarromero, J. Jaime Miranda and Carol Zavaleta-Cortijo
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:183
  11. Health inequities have a profound impact on all dimensions of people’s lives, with invariably worse results among the most disadvantaged, transforming them into a more fragile and vulnerable population. These ...

    Authors: Rodrigo Severino, Manuel Espinoza and Báltica Cabieses
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:176
  12. The Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean (EWEC-LAC) initiative was established in 2017 as a regional inter-agency mechanism. EWEC-LAC coordinates the regional implementation of the Global Strat...

    Authors: Antonio Sanhueza, Liliana Carvajal, Daniel A. Cueva, Sonja Caffe, Alma Virginia Camacho, María Alejandra Berroterán, Deborah Horowitz, Amparo Gordillo-Tobar and Oscar J. Mujica
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:83
  13. The COVID-19 pandemic has been felt acutely in Latin America with several countries having among the highest numbers of SARS-CoV-2 cases and related deaths. Individuals living with underlying health conditions...

    Authors: Meredith H. Kruse, Alessandra Durstine and Dabney P. Evans
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:45
  14. During the first decade of the current century, Latin American countries have shown high and consistent economic growth rates, increasing per capita GDP and reducing poverty. Social indicators improved in even...

    Authors: Daniel Maceira, Luisa Brumana and Joaquín González Aleman
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:29
  15. Despite efforts to extend Universal Health Coverage in Colombia, rural and remote populations still face significant challenges in accessing equitable health services. Social innovation has been growing in Col...

    Authors: Martha Milena Bautista-Gómez and Lindi van Niekerk
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:23

    The Correction to this article has been published in International Journal for Equity in Health 2022 21:53

  16. The present study analyzes inequalities in catastrophic health expenditures in conflict-affected regions of Meta, Colombia and socioeconomic factors contributing to the existence and changes in catastrophic ex...

    Authors: Sebastián León-Giraldo, Juan Sebastián Cuervo-Sánchez, Germán Casas, Catalina González-Uribe, Noemi Kreif, Oscar Bernal and Rodrigo Moreno-Serra
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2021 20:217
  17. Gender-based discrimination remains a substantial barrier to health care access and HIV prevention among transgender women in Brazil. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between gender-bas...

    Authors: Beo Oliveira Leite, Danielle Souto de Medeiros, Laio Magno, Francisco Inácio Bastos, Carolina Coutinho, Ana Maria de Brito, Maria Socorro Cavalcante and Inês Dourado
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2021 20:199
  18. Active transportation is a crucial sort of physical activity for developing sustainable environments and provides essential health benefits. This is particularly important in Latin American countries because t...

    Authors: Gerson Ferrari, Juan Guzmán-Habinger, Javiera L. Chávez, André O. Werneck, Danilo R. Silva, Irina Kovalskys, Georgina Gómez, Attilio Rigotti, Lilia Yadira Cortés, Martha Cecilia Yépez García, Rossina G. Pareja, Marianella Herrera-Cuenca, Clemens Drenowatz, Carlos Cristi-Montero, Adilson Marques, Miguel Peralta…
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2021 20:190
  19. Information on socioeconomic inequalities in physical activity over time is sparse in low- to middle-income countries. In this study, we examined trends in physical activity educational inequalities in adults ...

    Authors: Gerson Ferrari, Pedro Toteff Dulgheroff, Rafael M. Claro, Leandro F. M. Rezende and Catarina Machado Azeredo
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2021 20:188
  20. In 2008, Ecuador started a national health reform based on the principles of Alma Ata to achieve Universal Health Coverage. While coverage indicators have increased, a systematic assessment of the impact of th...

    Authors: Sergio E Flores Jimenez and Miguel San Sebastián
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2021 20:169
  21. Latin America, with its culturally and ethnically diverse populations, its burgeoning economies, high levels of violence, growing political instability, and its striking levels of inequality, is a region that ...

    Authors: Ana Lorena Ruano, Daniela Rodríguez, Pablo Gaitán Rossi and Daniel Maceira
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2021 20:94
  22. While equity is a central concern in promoting Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the impact of social exclusion on equity in UHC remains underexplored. This paper examines challenges faced by socially excluded ...

    Authors: Jeannie Samuel, Walter Flores and Ariel Frisancho
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:216
  23. Participatory governance is about state and society jointly responsible for political decisions and services. The origins and trajectory of participatory governance initiatives are determined by the socio-poli...

    Authors: Qamar Mahmood and Carles Muntaner
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:173
  24. Costa Rica, similar to many other Latin American countries is undergoing population aging at a fast pace. As a result of the epidemiological transition, the prevalence of diabetes has increased. This condition...

    Authors: Carolina Santamaría-Ulloa and Melina Montero-López
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:172
  25. Since the early 1990s, Colombia has made great strides in extending healthcare coverage to its population. In order to measure the impact of these efforts, it is important to assess whether the introduction of...

    Authors: Jorge Garcia-Ramirez, Zlatko Nikoloski and Elias Mossialos
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:168
  26. People living a trans-life require access to equitable healthcare services, policies and research that address their needs. However, trans people have experienced different forms of violence, discrimination, s...

    Authors: Mariana Calderón-Jaramillo, Ángel Mendoza, Natalia Acevedo, Luz Janeth Forero-Martínez, Sandra Marcela Sánchez and Juan Carlos Rivillas-García
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:148
  27. Social and community participation is a fundamental component of the development of renewed primary healthcare (PHC). With the recognition of health as a right, such participation is a significant part of the ...

    Authors: Laura Catalina Blandón-Lotero and Marta Cecilia Jaramillo-Mejía
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:129
  28. In 2007 Uruguay began a reform in the health sector towards the construction of a National Integrated Health System (SNIS), based on public insurance with private and public provision. The main objective of th...

    Authors: Cecilia González and Patricia Triunfo
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:127
  29. Designing public health policies to target the needs of specific places requires highly granular data. When geographic health statistics from official sources are absent or lacking in spatial detail, Sanitary ...

    Authors: Germán Federico Rosati, Tomás Alberto Olego and H. Antonio Vazquez Brust
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:204
  30. Four Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru introduced national health-focused conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in the 2000s. This study probes whether policymakers in these countries...

    Authors: Mathieu J. P. Poirier
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:125
  31. Brazil conducts many health surveys to provide estimates by national level, macro-regions, states, metropolitan regions and capitals. However, estimates for smaller areas are lacking due to their high cost. Th...

    Authors: Regina Tomie Ivata Bernal, Quéren Hapuque de Carvalho, Jill P. Pell, Alastair H. Leyland, Ruth Dundas, Mauricio Lima Barreto and Deborah Carvalho Malta
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:124
  32. With the turn of the century, most countries in Latin America witnessed an increased concern with universalism and redistribution. In the health sector, this translated into a wide range of reforms to advance ...

    Authors: Pamela Bernales-Baksai
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:106
  33. Understanding health financing reforms and means is key to evaluate how maternal health has improved. Problems related to health financing policies are contributing to inadequate quality of care and inequitabl...

    Authors: Juan Carlos Rivillas, Raúl Devia-Rodriguez and Marie-Gloriose Ingabire
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:98
  34. Socioeconomic status is associated with cesarean section (CS). Maternal height, however, may be another related factor to CS. In Guatemala, a quarter of women between 15 and 49 years of age are shorter than 14...

    Authors: Evelyn Roldán, Laura M Grajeda and Wilton Pérez
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:95
  35. The high fragmentation and decentralization in the provision of health care services that characterizes Argentina’s health system, as well as the economic and social inequalities, challenge the achievement of ...

    Authors: Alfredo Palacios, Natalia Espinola and Carlos Rojas-Roque
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:67
  36. The ways of life in the Amazon are diverse and not widely known. In addition, social inequities, large geographic distances and inadequate health care network noticeably limit access to health services in rura...

    Authors: Luiza Garnelo, Rosana Cristina Pereira Parente, Maria Laura Rezende Puchiarelli, Priscilla Cabral Correia, Matheus Vasconcelos Torres and Fernando José Herkrath
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:54
  37. Given the persistence of Indigenous health inequities across national contexts, many countries have adopted strategies to improve the health of Indigenous peoples. Governmental recognition of the unique health...

    Authors: Angeline Ferdinand, Michelle Lambert, Leny Trad, Leo Pedrana, Yin Paradies and Margaret Kelaher
    Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health 2020 19:47