Challenges for comprehensive education reform in South America

By: Gonzalo Alcalde The integral reform of the education is necessary, but it will not be able to be obtained without special attention to the educative decentralization and the national political debates The countries of South America continue to perform poorly in primary and secondary education, significantly below what would be expected at their income levels. This is a critical deficiency insofar as quality education is the most important element...

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Health trends in South America: Changes are accelerating as countries get richer

By: Fernando Prada The epidemiologist profile of the countries of South America is undergoing trough important changes that will put pressure on the existing health systems. Planning for what it comes is the correct strategy. Every four years, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) publishes “Health in the Americas”, a comprehensive report on regional health trends. The most recent edition,(1)  published in 2007 with data up to 2004, concluded...

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Demographic transition in South America: from demographic window to population aging

By Mario Bazán South America will go from 399 million to 520 million inhabitants between 2010 and 2050. Whereas the minors of 15 years happen to be 27 percent of the population to 17 percent, the majors of 65 years will happen to represent 7 percent 20 percent of the population of the region between these years. The population of South America is set to expand by 90 million people in the next 40 years. As the demographic structure of the region...

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