Artificial Intelligence as a Potential Catalyst to a More Equitable Cancer Care.

As we enter the era of digital interdependence, artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a key instrument to transform health care and address disparities and barriers in access to services. This viewpoint explores AI's potential to reduce inequalities in cancer care by improving diagnostic accuracy, optimizing resource allocation, and expanding access to medical care, especially in underserved communities. Despite persistent barriers, such as socioeconomic and geographical disparities, AI can significantly improve health care delivery.

Diabetes mortality: trends and multi-country analysis of the Americas from 2000 to 2019.

Background: Diabetes has been increasing worldwide and is now among the 10 leading causes of death globally. Diabetic kidney disease (DKD), a complication of poorly managed diabetes, is related to high mortality risk. To better understand the situation in the Americas region, we evaluated diabetes and DKD mortality trends over the past 20 years.

Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer 1st Edition: 17 cancer prevention recommendations to the public and to policy-makers (World Code Against Cancer Framework).

Preventable risk factors are responsible of at least 40% of cases and almost 45% of all cancer deaths worldwide. Cancer is already the leading cause of death in almost half of the Latin American and the Caribbean countries constituting a public health problem. Cost-effective measures to reduce exposures through primary prevention and screening of certain types of cancers are critical in the fight against cancer but need to be tailored to the local needs and scenarios.

Storytelling workshop to encourage stakeholder engagement with the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.

Storytelling can enhance stakeholder engagement and support the implementation of the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, which aims to improve care globally for children with cancer. The Initiative aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, addressing health, education, inequalities and international collaboration. This report describes the design and implementation of a workshop that used storytelling through film to encourage stakeholders in national cancer control plans to engage with the Initiative in its focal countries in Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Assessment of organization of cervical and breast cancer screening programmes in the Latin American and the Caribbean states: The CanScreen5 framework.

Background: In the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), breast cancer and cervical cancer are the first and third causes of cancer death among females. The objectives are to assess the characteristics of the cervical and breast cancer screening programmes in CELAC, their level of organization, and the association of screening organization and coverage of essential health services.

Methods: Representatives of the Ministries of Health of 33 countries were invited to the CanScreen5 project.

Performance of cervical cytology and HPV testing for primary cervical cancer screening in Latin America: an analysis within the ESTAMPA study.

Background: Cervical cytology remains widely used as the initial tool in cervical cancer screening worldwide. WHO guidelines recommend replacing cytology with primary HPV testing to reach cervical cancer elimination goals. We assessed the performance of cytology and high-risk HPV testing to detect cervical precancer, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 3 or worse (CIN3+) among women aged 30-64 years participating in the ESTAMPA study.

Advances in the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer: implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This report describes the status of childhood cancer control initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Progress between 2017 and 2023 is measured using the outcome indicators from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) childhood cancer logic model aligned with the World Health Organization Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC). This report also describes the advances, barriers, and facilitators for the implementation of the GICC at the Regional level.

Regional collaboration for the development of national childhood cancer plans in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This article aims to describe the activities conducted by the National Childhood Cancer Plan Working Group to support the development of national childhood cancer plans in Latin America and the Caribbean in the period 2019-2022, and to present the stage of plan development. The Working Group activities were supported by the Pan American Health Organization and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer.

Elimination of cervical cancer in Latin America (Project ECHO-ELA): lessons from phase one of implementation.

We describe the outcomes of The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes-Elimination of Cervical Cancer in The Americas (ECHO-ELA) program, which was developed as a tri-lateral cooperation between Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson).

Multimorbidity and social determinants of health in the US prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for health outcomes: a cross-sectional analysis based on NHANES 2017-2018.

Multimorbidity increases the risk of all-cause mortality, and along with age, is an independent risk factor for severe disease and mortality from COVID-19. Inequities in the social determinants of health contributed to increased mortality from COVID-19 among disadvantaged populations. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of multimorbid conditions and associations with the social determinants of health in the US prior to the pandemic.

Noncommunicable diseases in the Americas: a review of the Pan American Health Organization's 25-year program of work.

This article describes progress in tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Americas since the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) started its NCD program 25 years ago. Changes in the epidemiology of NCDs, NCD policies, health service capacity, and surveillance are discussed. PAHO's NCD program is guided by regional plans of action on specific NCDs and risk factors, as well as a comprehensive NCD plan.

The rising burden of non-communicable diseases in the Americas and the impact of population aging: a secondary analysis of available data.

Background: Public health progress in the Americas has reduced the burden of many infectious diseases, helping more people live longer lives. At the same time, the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is increasing. NCD prevention rightly focuses on lifestyle risk factors, social, and economic determinants of health.

Partnering to implement the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer in the Americas: prioritizing systems strengthening.

Working with PAHO/WHO to prioritize childhood cancer in the context of systems strengthening is central to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH)'s role as WHO Collaborating Centre for Childhood Cancer. This manuscript focuses on how SJCRH and PAHO/WHO have partnered to apply C5 (Country Collaboration for Childhood Cancer Control) to define and implement priority actions regionally, strengthening Ministry programs for childhood cancer, while implementing the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer since 2018.

What is the NCD service capacity and disruptions due to COVID-19? Results from the WHO non-communicable disease country capacity survey in the Americas region.

Objective: This article presents the Americas regional results of the WHO non-communicable diseases (NCDs) Country Capacity Survey from 2019 to 2021, on NCD service capacity and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Setting: Information on public sector primary care services for NCDs, and related technical inputs from 35 countries in the Americas region are provided.

Participants: All Ministry of Health officials managing a national NCD programme, from a WHO Member State in the Americas region, were included throughout this study.

Performance of standardised colposcopy to detect cervical precancer and cancer for triage of women testing positive for human papillomavirus: results from the ESTAMPA multicentric screening study.

Background: Colposcopy, currently included in WHO recommendations as an option to triage human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive women, remains as the reference standard to guide both biopsy for confirmation of cervical precancer and cancer and treatment approaches. We aim to evaluate the performance of colposcopy to detect cervical precancer and cancer for triage in HPV-positive women.

Methods: This cross-sectional, multicentric screening study was conducted at 12 centres (including primary and secondary care centres, hospitals, laboratories, and universities) in Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay).

Implementing HPV testing in 9 Latin American countries: The laboratory perspective as observed in the ESTAMPA study.

Background: Replacement of cytology screening with HPV testing is recommended and essential for cervical cancer elimination. HPV testing for primary screening was implemented in 12 laboratories within 9 Latin American countries, as part of the ESTAMPA cervical cancer screening study. Our observations provide information on critical operational aspects for HPV testing implementation in diverse resource settings.

Performance of visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA) for triage of HPV screen-positive women: results from the ESTAMPA study.

VIA is recommended for triage of HPV-positive women attending cervical screening. In the multicentric ESTAMPA study, VIA performance for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or worse (CIN3+) among HPV-positive women was evaluated. Women aged 30-64 years were screened with HPV testing and cytology and referred to colposcopy if either test was positive.

Evolution of the joint International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and WHO cancer control assessments (imPACT Reviews).

Before 2005, cancer and other non-communicable diseases were not yet health and development agenda priorities. Since the 2005 World Health Assembly Resolution, which encouraged WHO, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to jointly work on cancer control, progress was achieved in low-income and middle-income countries on a small scale. Recently, rapid acceleration in UN collaboration and global cancer activities has focused attention in global cancer control.

HPV vaccine introduction in the Americas: a decade of progress and lessons learned.

Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important public health concern due to its causative role in many cancers, especially cervical cancer, and other conditions that lead to serious health consequences in both men and women. In Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 60,000 new cases of cervical cancer and another 7,000 HPV-associated cancers are diagnosed annually.

Areas Covered: HPV vaccination combined with comprehensive cervical cancer control programmingis paving the way for eliminating cervical cancer as a major public health problem and drastically reducing other HPV-associated diseases.

Integrated approach for noncommunicable disease management in the Americas.

An overview of an integrated approach to improve noncommunicable disease (NCD) management is presented, along with tools on integrating NCD management as part of health system strengthening in the Americas. The study is based on an analysis of Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) data and publicly available information on NCD care and capacity, disruptions in NCD services, and guidance on NCD management. Gaps in NCD care are highlighted, in which an estimated 43.