Latin America’s health systems are falling behind the rest of the world, WHO warns

The pandemic, persistent inequality, outdated technology and the consequences of climate change have put progress into reverse

Latin America’s health systems are “in pain” and falling behind the rest of the world – a result of persistent inequality, outdated technology and the consequences of climate change, the region’s director for the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

Populations across the continent contend with diseases considered ancient in high-income countries, from tuberculosis to trachoma, while modern treatments and vaccines for easily preventable conditions, such as HIV and cervical cancer, can be scarce.

The pandemic has meanwhile driven a further six million Latin Americans into hunger, heat-related deaths among over-65s have increased by almost 240 per cent since 2000, and the average maternal mortality rate is ten times higher than the world’s richest nations.