Health and human security in the region of the americas: Translating conceptualization to action through guideline development

Today, human security is an approach that is helping the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) efforts to improve health in the Region of the Americas. The greatest threats to health and well-being in the Region of the Americas today represent complex, interrelated challenges, including violence and crisis, environmental risks, infectious and poverty-related diseases, emergencies and disasters, climate change, and inequity. The human security approach, by offering a comprehensive and preventive focus, strengthens PAHO's existing efforts to address the multiple dimensions of these critical and pervasive threats; in health we are promoting new means to incorporate health and human security The current challenge, however, lies in supporting Member States and other actors to effectively apply these principles within health policies and integrate them into their public health programs and health services. Therefore, PAHO has been developing policy and operational procedures to guide policymakers and practitioners in the effective integration of human security principles in health policies, plans and programs. This presentation will review key aspects of the human security approach and its relevance to and application within the Region of the Americas, and will elaborate key components of PAHO's recently developed guidelines on health and human security.