Latin America And Caribbean Countries Research Articles

Analysis of renewable energy incentives in the Latin America and Caribbean region: The feed-in tariff case

Abstract Renewable energy is becoming a priority for Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries because of energy challenges such as demand growth, high dependence on imported fossil fuels, and climate change. As of 2010, 12 LAC countries have implemented formal targets for renewable energy deployment. Some of the LAC countries, namely Argentina, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, are using feed-in tariffs (FITs) to promote renewables. FITs are long-term, guaranteed purchase agreements for green electricity at a price that can provide project developers a reasonable return on investment. FITs are increasingly popular because if designed well, they can mitigate investor risk in renewables. This article presents a low-risk FIT design and then uses this design to benchmark the existing LAC region FITs.

Awareness, adoption and implementation of the water safety plan methodology: insights from five Latin American and Caribbean experiences.

Considerable effort has been made worldwide to disseminate information and provide technical assistance to encourage the adoption and implementation of the water safety plan (WSP) methodology. Described since the third edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, a WSP provides guidance for water utilities to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water and protect health. Attention is now being given to understand the success of efforts to advance adoption of the WSP methodology in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. More specifically, there is interest in knowing how early adopters developed strategies to implement the WSP methodology and what challenges exist for further implementation. To better understand adoption and implementation trends, key informants from five LAC countries were interviewed and case studies were developed to reveal the diversity of WSP approaches applied in the region. Results indicate that WSP implementation is more widespread than previously reported. Respondents affirmed that the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality are routinely used as a model for country-level drinking-water regulations, which has led to uptake of the WSP methodology. Interview respondents also revealed innovative national strategic approaches for WSP implementation.

TRANSFERABILITY OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT REPORTS IN LATIN AMERICA: AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY OF RESEARCHERS AND DECISION MAKERS

HTA agencies, especially in developing countries, are under resourced and unable to conduct the desired amount of assessments. Adapting HTA reports (HTAs) from other jurisdictions is an alternative for saving resources. To explore HTA transferability experiences in Latin-America and Caribbean (LAC): are decision makers (DMs) using HTAs from other jurisdictions? Are researchers adapting HTAs when developing local reports? How useful is the information found in HTAs from other jurisdictions? Web-based survey sent to 13031 HTA researchers and DMs. We received 671 responses from 19 countries. DMs reported using HTAs from other jurisdictions to guide decisions in the majority of the situations: 52.6 percent HTAs from outside LAC (e.g., Europe), 23.1 percent from other LAC countries, and only 24.3 percent HTAs from their own countries. 63 percent of researchers reported using HTAs from other jurisdictions. Usefulness scored significantly higher for HTAs from other jurisdictions as compared to local HTAs (7.1 versus 6.0 in a 1-10 scale; p < .01). Both DMs and researchers considered the information regarding safety and effectiveness more applicable than the information on social aspects, or economic evaluation. Barriers that limit transferability had significantly different scores for HTAs from other LAC countries as compared to those from regions outside LAC (i.e., poor methodological quality 6.7 versus 5.3, different epidemiological context 6.0 versus 7.4; all p < .01). HTAs from outside the region are commonly used. However, DMs and researchers agreed that HTAs from LAC had the greatest potential for transferability, provided that barriers such as poor methodological quality could be overcome.

Recommendations for Cervical Cancer Prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean

Cervical cancer control in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has been, and remains, a priority and a major public health challenge. It also provides the opportunity for the advancement of research into novel cervical cancer preventative tools including the use of prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, HPV-based screening options and low technology visual inspection methods. The challenges for prevention are compounded because cervical cancer cases continue to cluster in the low socio-economic and rural populations, thus requiring strong political and social commitments to ensure effective implementation in the region. Although cytology-based screening activities exist in the majority of LAC countries, these have been largely based on opportunistic screening services. Evaluation of the impact of screening is often focused on assessing coverage of the population with Pap smears. However, regardless of the chosen technology a screening program requires a complex set of activities that must also be of high quality such us ensuring access of the underserved populations to the program, maintaining routine quality controls of the screening procedures and organizing the proper follow-up of women with abnormal screening results. The cost of the HPV vaccine and of the delivery infrastructure required is currently a significant obstacle for widespread introduction that will require collaborative resolve between public health organizations, governments and vaccine manufacturers. It is important to ensure that HPV vaccines are made available to the wider public, not only to those who can afford it. This monograph and the associated regional reports have carefully identified and discussed the many challenges and opportunities to be considered for policy decisions, in particular the complex interplay between vaccination strategies and subsequent screening requirements. An advanced cost-benefit analysis, using models calibrated to specific countries in the region, presents the range of options and relative costs thus providing evidence-based scientific guidance to governments and providers in the context of a significant and systematic international review effort.

Status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and methods to monitor it in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

The paper presented is a review of the available epidemiological data on the situation in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, and looks at HIV prevalence in specific population groups. At the end of 2001, HIV remains an important health issue in the LAC region. Twelve countries in the region have an estimated prevalence of 1% or higher among pregnant women. Most of the LAC countries with generalized epidemics are located in the Caribbean basin. In the past decade there has been a slow but continuous increase in HIV prevalence rates among the general population and vulnerable groups, although information in some countries is limited. In many countries, the highest HIV prevalence among vulnerable groups is found among men who have sex with men. HIV infections related to injecting drug use are concentrated in the countries of the Southern Cone and Brazil. HIV is well anchored in the region, concentrated in vulnerable groups in most countries, but with an increasing presence in some countries in the general population. There is a need to improve data collection and introduce new tools to monitor behavior trends and the impact of interventions.