Eradicating an Ancient Disease
Monday, January 26th, 2009Leprosy.
What images does that word invoke for you? The stories of ostracized lepers from the Bible, Torah or Koran? The scenes involving isolated “leper colonies” from Papillon or Motorcycle Diaries?
How much do you know about it? Is it very contagious? (No.) Is it curable? (Yes.) Hasn’t it disappeared except for isolated [...]
Progress Towards the Health MDGs in LAC / Progreso hacia los ODM relacionado con la salud en ALC
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008Recently 14 United Nations (UN) agencies* released a report (English, Spanish) reviewing the status of efforts of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations toward meeting the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The report addresses the following health-specific MDGs:
reducing the under-five mortality rate by 2/3 between 1990 and 2015;
reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 3/4 between 1990 [...]
Climate Change Country Profiles for 17 LAC Nations
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the School of Geography and Environment at Oxford University have generated country-level studies of climate observations and multi-model projections for 52 developing countries, 17 of them in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
For each country there is a report that contains a set of maps and diagrams illustrating the [...]
The Economics of Climate Change in the Caribbean / La economía del cambio climático en el Caribe
Sunday, September 14th, 2008From the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):
ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CARIBBEAN
ECLAC study to review policy and provide country-by-country assessments of its impacts.
A review of the economics of climate change in the Caribbean will be the subject of a study to be undertaken by ECLAC Sub-regional Headquarters for [...]
Does Payment for Watershed Services Work in LAC?
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008An innovative and increasingly popular policy option in the deforestation and water resources management fields in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the so-called payment for environment services (PES) approach. But as these IIED reports show, as it has been applied so far to watershed management does not always bring the hoped-for environmental benefits. [...]
Progress Toward MDGs in Water in LAC
Saturday, August 16th, 2008One of my first posts here on The Temas Blog concerned the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) progress report on reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) regarding drinking water and sanitation. So it’s probably fitting as I approach the second anniversary of the The Temas Blog to be discussing the latest update just released [...]
Toward a Caribbean Public Health Agency
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008Over the last three decades, the nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have developed a series of small health-related institutions for different tasks, spread out over different member states. In recent years some member governments have questioned the wisdom and cost-effectiveness of having such compartmentalization.
And some have even dared to wonder aloud if [...]
Eliminating Vertical Transmission of HIV & Syphilis in the Caribbean by 2015
Saturday, August 9th, 2008From the Pan American health Organization (PAHO):
Caribbean public health authorities propose to eliminate vertical transmission of HIV and syphilis by 2015
Public health authorities, HIV and Maternal and Child Health experts concluded that it is feasible to eliminate the vertical transmission of HIV and syphilis in the Caribbean by 2015. The conclusion was reached after a [...]
The High-Level Caribbean Sustainable Energy Seminar
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Temas Observation: This seminar is a follow-up to the meeting held in Guyana last year, where some of the same promises were made. Let’s hope that not another year must pass before something more concrete emerges from this initiative.
________________________
From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB):
Plans to unleash the Caribbean region’s renewable energy potential gain momentum [...]
LAC Health Stats, Trends and Trivia
Saturday, June 21st, 2008Which Latin American or Caribbean nation smokes or drinks the most? In which are you more likely to die from cancer than infectious diseases such as malaria or dengue? Which has the highest percentage of obese people? Which spends the most on the health of their citizens?
If you you’ve ever wondered about [...]





















