[The health sector in the face of disasters and climate change in CubaO setor da saúde diante de desastres e mudanças climáticas em Cuba].

Due to its impact on human health and its capacity to cause damage, disasters are one of the global problems that most concern the international community. However, and in spite of the efforts made by many health systems, the reduction of vulnerabilities and the lack of strategies to avoid or minimize risks have not received enough attention yet. As Cuba is located in an area of permanent danger of disasters, its health sector has accumulated considerable experience in the management of risks and in the assurance of less risky future scenarios, with active participation of the community and a planned and organized process to address the impact of climate change.

[Emerging and reemerging diseases: a health problem in the Americas].

In the Region of the Americas the emerging and reemerging infectious diseases that had the greatest impact on health, in terms of their incidence and the number of deaths that they caused during the five-year period of 1999-2003, were: malaria, yellow fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever, AIDS, anthrax, and SARS, as well as infection by hantavirus and by West Nile virus. The appearance of epidemics of emerging and reemerging diseases is related to biological, social, and economic factors. Growth in international trade, the movement of large numbers of people across national borders, the variability and genetic adaptability of the causative microorganisms, and inefficiencies in public health systems help to spread infections and epidemics.