The most recent report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) confirmed dramatic differences in indicators such as maternal mortality and mortality in children under five years of age.
According to the information, seven times more mothers die giving birth in the poorest nations in the region than in the richest one. At the same time, children under five years of age in the lowest income group are around 4.5 times more likely to die compared to the most economically advantaged group.
These data confirm the urgency of increasing public spending on health, which was estimated at around 4.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2021, one and a half percent below the World Health Organization’s proposal.
The report calls for greater and better investment in a region where the poorest are 46 percent more likely to die between the ages of 30 and 69 from chronic diseases.
Other statistics from 2019 assure that the mortality rate attributed to unhealthy water, poor sanitation and lack of hygiene is almost six times higher in lower-income sectors.
The numbers “exposes the urgency of increasing public spending on health,” said the report, which warns of the worsening inequalities in access to health, gaps in the quality of care received and high out-of-pocket expenses for the population.
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