On a yearly basis since 1995 the Regional Core Health Data Initiative of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) presents the most recent information on health indicators in the Region of the Americas. On the 110th anniversary of PAHO/WHO, this publication highlights the mortality due to external causes (EC); those causes of death different from natural causes and recognized as avoidable such as suicides, homicides and accidents. From the data reported by the countries, it is estimated that over 5.5 million people died from EC in the Region between 1999 and 2009.

The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) presents the latest available information on basic health indicators for 48 countries/territories in the Region of the Americas. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of death in the Americas, accounting for 76% of all deaths during 2007-2009. This proportion equals to 4 million annual deaths since 2000, of which most (69%) occur in middle and low income countries. Given the immense burden that NCDs pose to the people, they have been recognized for their substantial adverse impact on health and society by all countries and the international community.

The Regional Core Health Data and Country Profiles Initiative (RDCHI) was launched by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in 1995 to fulfill the Organization’s mission as leading source of health information and technical cooperation agency committed to strengthening health information systems. This is the 16th edition of “Health Situation in the Americas: Basic Indicators,” and during the past 15 years, Basic Indicators has expanded its range of inquiry to include new indicators, and has served to most of the countries as a model to develop their own publications with national and subnational data.

Chronic noncommunicable diseases currently are reaching epidemic proportions in the Americas and are contributing substantially to overall mortality and disease burden in the Region. They result from complex and dynamic socially determined health processes, including epidemiological and demographic transitions. Once thought to be an issue primarily affecting the older population in high-income countries, chronic non communicable diseases are now affecting younger population segments and the poor in the lower-income countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

This fourteenth publication on the health situation of the Region of the Americas includes a set of basic indicators and provides the latest information available on 56 basic indicators for 48 countries and territories, as well as for groupings of countries or sub-regions. Resolution CD40.R10, Collection and Use of Core Health Data, requires the Member States of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) togather data in order to develop these basic indicators.

This new edition of "Health Situation in the Americas: Basic Indicators 2007" is the thirteenth in a series of annual reports published since 1995, as part of the “Regional Core Health Data and Country Profiles Initiative”. By mandate of the Governing Bodies of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) these statistics contribute to the monitoring of the Region’s health situation, and the response to the mandates and initiatives of the Organization.

Timely, valid and reliable data at the country and local levels are essential in the formulation and monitoring of policies to improve the health of the peoples of the Americas. Since 1995, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) has been disseminating health data through the Regional Core Health Data Initiative (RCHDI) to provide Member States with valid and reliable basic health indicators.

Epidemiologists, health planners, and administrators from countries throughout the Americas Region, among others, met at a seminar in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November 1983,to discuss and analyze the role of epidemiology in the developing countries of the Western Hemisphere. After formulating and analyzing ideas and initiative son the use and future prospects of epidemiology in Latin America, the participants made important recommendations for adjusting epidemiology's practice to current needs.