[The Every Woman Every Child initiative: supporting countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce social inequalities in healthA iniciativa "Todas as mulheres, todas as crianças" oferece apoio aos países da América Latina e Caribe para reduzir as desigualdades sociais de saúde]. / La iniciativa Todas las Mujeres Todos los Niños brinda apoyo a los países de América Latina y el Caribe para reducir las desigualdades sociales en la salud.

Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean (EWEC-LAC) was established in 2017 as a regional inter-agency mechanism. EWEC-LAC coordinates the regional implementation of the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including adaptation to region specific needs, to end preventable deaths, ensure health and well-being and expand enabling environments for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. To advance the equitable achievement of these objectives, EWEC-LAC's three working groups collectively support LAC countries in measuring and monitoring social inequalities in health, advocating for their reduction, and designing and implementing equity-oriented strategies, policies and interventions. This support for data-driven advocacy, capacity building, and policy and program solutions toward closing current gaps ensures that no one is left behind. Members of EWEC-LAC include PAHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN WOMEN, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, LAC Regional Neonatal Alliance, and the LAC Regional Task Force for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality. To date, EWEC-LAC has developed and collected innovative tools and resources and begun to engage with countries to utilize them to reduce equity gaps. These resources include a framework for the measurement of social inequalities in health, data use and advocacy tools including a data dashboard to visualize trends in social inequalities in health in LAC countries, a methodology for setting targets for the reduction of inequalities, and a compendium of tools, instruments and methods to identify and address social inequalities in health. EWEC-LAC has also engaged regionally to emphasize the importance of recognizing these inequalities at social and political levels, and advocated for the reduction of these gaps. Attention to closing health equity gaps is ever more critical in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which has exploited existing vulnerabilities. More equitable health systems will be better prepared to confront future health shocks.

A iniciativa "Todas as mulheres, todas as crianças da América Latina e Caribe" (EWEC-LAC, na sigla em inglês) foi criada em 2017 como um mecanismo interinstitucional regional. Coordena a implementação regional da Estratégia Mundial para a Saúde da Mulher, da Criança e do Adolescente 2016-2030 na América Latina e Caribe (ALC), incluindo sua adaptação a necessidades específicas da região, para acabar com as mortes evitáveis, garantir a saúde e o bem-estar e expandir ambientes propícios para a saúde e o bem-estar de mulheres, crianças e adolescentes. Para promover o alcance equitativo desses objetivos, os três grupos de trabalho da EWEC-LAC apoiam coletivamente os países da ALC com a medição e o monitoramento das desigualdades sociais de saúde, a promoção de sua redução, e o delineamento e a implementação de estratégias, políticas e intervenções voltadas para a equidade. Esse apoio para fechar as lacunas atuais assegura que ninguém seja deixado para trás. Os membros da iniciativa EWEC-LAC incluem UNFPA, OPAS, ONU Mulheres, UNAIDS, UNICEF, Banco Mundial, Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento, USAID, Aliança Neonatal Regional para ALC e Grupo de Trabalho Regional para a Redução da Mortalidade Materna. Até o momento, a EWEC-LAC desenvolveu e compilou ferramentas e recursos inovadores e começou a colaborar com os países para utilizá-los a fim de reduzir as lacunas de equidade. Isso inclui uma estrutura de medição das desigualdades sociais de saúde, ferramentas de promoção de dados (como um painel de dados para visualizar tendências nas desigualdades sociais de saúde), uma metodologia para estabelecer metas para reduzir as desigualdades e um compêndio de ferramentas e métodos para identificar e abordar as desigualdades sociais de saúde. A EWEC-LAC trabalhou na região para enfatizar a importância de reconhecer essas desigualdades nos níveis social e político, e defendeu sua redução. A atenção para o fechamento das lacunas de equidade na saúde é cada vez mais crítica frente à pandemia de COVID-19, que exacerbou as vulnerabilidades existentes. Sistemas de saúde mais equitativos estarão mais bem preparados para lidar com futuras crises de saúde.

The Every Woman Every Child initiative: supporting countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce social inequalities in health.

The Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean (EWEC-LAC) initiative was established in 2017 as a regional inter-agency mechanism. EWEC-LAC coordinates the regional implementation of the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), including adaptation to region specific needs, to end preventable deaths, ensure health and well-being and expand enabling environments for the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. To advance the equitable achievement of these objectives, EWEC-LAC's three working groups collectively support LAC countries in measuring and monitoring social inequalities in health, advocating for their reduction, and designing and implementing equity-oriented strategies, policies and interventions. This support for data-driven advocacy, capacity building, and policy and program solutions toward closing current gaps ensures that no one is left behind. Members of EWEC-LAC include PAHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN WOMEN, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, LAC Regional Neonatal Alliance, and the LAC Regional Task Force for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality. To date, EWEC-LAC has developed and collected innovative tools and resources and begun to engage with countries to utilize them to reduce equity gaps. These resources include a framework for the measurement of social inequalities in health, data use and advocacy tools including a data dashboard to visualize trends in social inequalities in health in LAC countries, a methodology for setting targets for the reduction of inequalities, and a compendium of tools, instruments and methods to identify and address social inequalities in health. EWEC-LAC has also engaged regionally to emphasize the importance of recognizing these inequalities at social and political levels, and advocated for the reduction of these gaps. Attention to closing health equity gaps is ever more critical in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which has exploited existing vulnerabilities. More equitable health systems will be better prepared to confront future health shocks.

RESUMEN: La iniciativa Todas las mujeres, Todos los niños América Latina y el Caribe (EWEC-LAC, por su sigla en inglés) se estableció en 2017 como un mecanismo interinstitucional regional. Coordina la implementación regional de la Estrategia Mundial para la Salud de la Mujer, el Niño y el Adolescente en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), incluyendo la adaptación a necesidades específicas de la región, para poner fin a muertes evitables, garantizar la salud y el bienestar y ampliar entornos propicios para la salud y el bienestar de mujeres, niños, niñas y adolescentes. Para promover el logro equitativo de estos objetivos, los tres grupos de trabajo de EWEC-LAC colectivamente apoyan a los países de ALC en la medición y monitoreo de las desigualdades sociales en salud, la abogacía por la disminución de estas y el diseño e implementación de estrategias, políticas e intervenciones orientadas a la equidad. Este apoyo para cerrar brechas actuales asegura que nadie se quede atrás. Miembros de EWEC-LAC incluyen FPNU, OPS, ONU Mujeres, ONUSIDA, UNICEF, el Banco Mundial, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, USAID, la Alianza Regional Neonatal para ALC, y el Grupo de Trabajo Regional para la Reducción de la Mortalidad Materna. A la fecha, EWEC-LAC ha desarrollado y recopilado herramientas y recursos innovadores y ha comenzado a colaborar con los países para utilizarlos a fin de reducir brechas de equidad. Estos incluyen un marco de medición de desigualdades sociales en salud, herramientas de promoción de datos incluyendo un tablero de datos para visualizar tendencias en desigualdades sociales en salud, una metodología para establecer metas en la disminución de las desigualdades y un compendio de herramientas y métodos para identificar y abordar las desigualdades sociales en salud. EWEC-LAC ha trabajado en la región para enfatizar la importancia de reconocer estas desigualdades a niveles sociales y políticos, y ha abogado por la disminución de éstas. La atención para cerrar las brechas de equidad en salud es cada vez más crítica frente a la pandemia de COVID-19, que ha agudizado las vulnerabilidades existentes. Sistemas de salud más equitativos estarán mejor preparados para hacer frente a futuras crisis de salud.

SDG3-related inequalities in women's, children's and adolescents' health: an SDG monitoring baseline for Latin America and the Caribbean using national cross-sectional surveys.

OBJECTIVES: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries have made important progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets related to health (SDG3) at the national level. However, vast within-country health inequalities remain. We present a baseline of health inequalities in the region, against which progress towards the SDGs can be monitored. SETTING: We studied 21 countries in LAC using data from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey carried out from 2011 to 2016 PARTICIPANTS: The surveys collect nationally representative data on women and children using multistage sampling. In total, 288 207 women and 195 092 children made part of the surveys in the 21 countries. OUTCOME MEASURES: Five health intervention indicators were studied, related to reproductive and maternal health, along with adolescent fertility and neonatal and under-five mortality rates. Inequalities in these indicators were assessed through absolute and relative measures. RESULTS: In most countries, subnational geographical health gradients were observed for nearly all women, child, and adolescent (WCA) indicators. Coverage of key interventions was higher in urban areas and among the richest, compared with rural areas and poorer quintiles. Analyses by woman's age showed that coverage was lower in adolescent girls than older women for family planning indicators. Pro-urban and pro-rich inequalities were also seen for mortality in most countries. CONCLUSIONS: Regional averages hide important health inequalities between countries, but national estimates hide still greater inequalities between subgroups of women, children and adolescents. To achieve the SDG3 targets and leave no one behind, it is essential to close health inequality gaps within as well as between countries.