title: Respiratory health in Latin America: number of specialists and human resources training.
abstract: Latin America is made up of a number of developing countries. Demographic changes are occurring in the close to 600 million inhabitants, in whom a significant growth in population is combined with the progressive ageing of the population. This part of the world poses great challenges for general and respiratory health. Most of the countries have significant, or even greater, rates of chronic respiratory diseases or exposure to risk. Human resources in healthcare are not readily available, particularly in the area of respiratory disease specialists. Academic training centers are few and even non-existent in the majority of the countries. The detailed analysis of these conditions provides a basis for reflection on the main challenges and proposals for the management and training of better human resources in this specialist area.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER), México DF, México. Electronic address: drjcvazquez@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Juan-Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Vázquez-García
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER), México DF, México.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salas-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias (INER), México DF, México.
authors.forename: Rogelio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pérez Padilla
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neumonología, Hospital Universitario de Caracas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montes de Oca
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000600:supply & distribution; D003906:Developing Countries; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education; D011157:Population Dynamics; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine / Q000193:education; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012306:Risk; D013192:Staff Development; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000193:education; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Educación médica; Empleo médico; Enfermedad respiratoria; Healthcare services; Human resources in healthcare; Medical education; Medical employment; Recursos humanos de la salud; Respiratory disease; Servicios de salud