Application of 'futures' in the community-level health promotion with special reference to Latin America.

Health promotion strategies are built upon the notion of creating healthy communities who are participating in taking a greater control over their own destinies. Social participation has a long tradition in Latin America and current movements to strengthen this are represented in the municipios saludables. Innovative frameworks for community involvement draw on the work developed in the 'futures' field, harnessing collaboration between communities and policy makers in order to formulate visions of health which empower communities.

Women and access to health care.

This paper is concerned with access to health care for women in developing countries, with specific reference to Latin American and Caribbean countries. It reviews the available literature on the concept of access as it relates to other variables such as accountability, affordability and acceptability of health services, taking into consideration the effects of the generalized socio-economic crisis that has affected most countries during the last decade, as well as equity objectives. Various approaches to defining variables affecting access to health care appear in the literature reviewed.