Promoting Healthy Living in Latin America and the Caribbean:Governance of Multisectoral Activities to Prevent Risk Factors for Noncommunicable Diseases

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus and chronic respiratory diseases generate a heavy burden in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) cause nearly a third of all deaths, while malignant and other neoplasms cause one in six. Although there are large variations across countries, some face a heavy double burden of disease as communicable diseases, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional conditions remain important causes of death and disability. In addition, injuries, particularly intentional, add to the burden. The burden of NCDs is increasing and consequently the pressure on regional health systems is growing. In this context, treatment alone will not be fiscally sustainable as the cost of treating NCDs in general is much higher than that of communicable diseases (World Bank 2011). Thus the urgent needs to promote healthy living in the region through population-wide multi-sectoral interventions to improve nutrition, promote physical activity, and reduce tobacco use and alcohol abuse. The role of the health sector is central to ensuring that multi-sectoral interventions to promote healthy lifestyles are designed and implemented along with targeted health care services. Also crucial is surveillance of NCDs and their risk factors. This function needs to be strengthened to improve information on the prevalence of NCDs and their risk factors and to respond adequately to the epidemic.