02420nas a2200265 4500000000100000008004100001653001900042653002900061653002800090653002300118653003700141653001800178653001100196653003000207653003300237653002100270653002500291100001200316245016300328856005100491300001100542490000900553520157800562022001402140 2007 d10aVirus Diseases10aRegional Health Planning10aPopulation Surveillance10aParasitic Diseases10aPan American Health Organization10aLatin America10aHumans10aCommunity Health Services10aCommunicable Disease Control10aCaribbean Region10aBacterial Infections1 aAult SK00aPan American Health Organization's Regional Strategic Framework for addressing neglected diseases in neglected populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. uhttp://www.scielo.br/pdf/mioc/v102s1/cd_14.pdf a99-1070 v102 3 a

The neglected diseases (NDs) need to be placed much higher on the agendas of the Ministries of Health and other organizations which are capable of effective action. Pan American Health Organization's plan seeks to strengthen surveillance, prevention, and control systems for NDs, with expected positive collateral benefits to other surveillance and control programs in Ministries of Health. Multi-disease, integrated, inter-sectoral, and inter-programmatic approaches need to be field-tested with pilot projects in communities. If the pilot projects are successful, these approaches will help optimize the use of scarce financial and human resources for communicable disease control in countries of the Region. Increased awareness of the importance and impact of the NDs in countries of the Region should help create or consolidate space and resources for these ND programs to continue into the future. Community-based projects should count with an ample number of local partners (non-governmental development organizations, church and community groups, local politicians) and perhaps other international partners to secure the continuance of prevention and control activities into the future. Cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of the data resulting from the pilot projects will be necessary to evaluate the multi-disease, inter-programmmatic and/or inter-sectoral and integrated interventions and their resulting synergies; if economically successful they should encourage investment by the private and public sector to address NDs in marginalized populations.

 a0074-0276