Latin America bets on health literacy

Pharmaceutical laboratories, institutions, guilds and medical federations have taken on the task of designing programs to end health illiteracy in order to have informed, educated, knowledgeable and empowered communities where their health and wellbeing are concerned.

Among the objectives are to counteract the impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular and respiratory problems, cancer and diabetes, which cause 5.5 million deaths annually in the Americas alone.

Although advances and innovation in diagnostics and pharmaceutical alternatives contribute to their control, non-adherence to treatments, misuse and abuse of medications, poor communication between patients and doctors, misinformation and ignorance hinder any strategy.