Understanding chronic non-communicable diseases in Latin America towards an equity-based research agenda 英文参考文献.docVIP

DeMaioGlobalizationandHealth2011,7:36 /content/7/1/36 DEBATE OpenAccess Understandingchronicnon-communicable diseasesinLatinAmerica:towardsanequity- basedresearchagenda FernandoGDeMaio Abstract Althoughchronicnon-communicablediseasesaretraditionallydepictedasdiseasesofaffluence,growingevidence suggeststheystrikealongthefaultlinesofsocialinequality.Thechallengeofunderstandinghowtheseconditions shapepatternsofpopulationhealthinLatinAmericarequiresaninter-disciplinarylens.Thispaperreviewsthe burdenofchronicnon-communicablediseasesintheregionandexamineskeymythssurroundingtheir prevalenceanddistribution.Itarguesthatasocialjusticeapproachrootedintheideaofhealthinequityneedsto beatthecoreofresearchinthisarea,andconcludeswithdiscussionofanewapproachtoguideempirical research,the‘average/deprivation/inequality’framework. Keywords:LatinAmerica,chronicdisease,riskfactors,socialjustice Introduction overall levels ofpopulation health, withmost countries Apopulation’shealthisacriticalindicatorofthequalityof experiencing improvements in life expectancy and itssocialfabric.Forthisreasondismayisgeneratedbythe reductions in infant mortality rates. Yet the coming well-known statistics: while men in many parts of the years will see increased pressures from a range of dis- industrialisedworldmayexpecttolive,onaverage,tosee eases that, although traditionally depicted asbeing dis- their late seventies andwomeninmanycountries may easesofaffluence,actuallystrikealongthefaultlinesof expect tolivewellintotheireighties, billions ofpeople social inequality. If these diseases are not controlled, aroundtheworldliveindramaticallydifferent‘epidemio- theywillseverelylimittheeconomicdevelopmentofthe logical worlds’[1,2]. Theseworlds arecharacterized by region [5] and cast further doubt on its ability to substantially worse aggregate indicators, including life decrease the percentage of the population that lives in expectanciesinthelowforties.Different‘epidemiological