Health and Medical Sociology

Biography

Biography: Arturo Alvarado

Abstract

I will address a major problem in the region of the Americas, the excessive mortality of juvenile population caused by homicides and the lack of policies to reduce them. This region has sustained the highest homicide rates in the world for more than 25 years. At the beginning of this decade the world homicide rate was around 6.9 deaths per one hundred thousand populations, while at the same time the Americas had rates of 16. Just between 1990 and 2010 1.7 million persons were murdered. 51.7% of victims were between 10 and 29 years old. The highest rate in the period happened in Colombia (average of 61.3 for all the population and near 80 for young people). Although we observe contrasting differences among the countries, like in Argentina, were the average rate were 3.9. In all cases the younger generations suffered the major toll of this violence. Latin America had divergent rates during the last twenty years. The first is a reduction of very high rates; A second tendency is the enduring high rates, like in Brazil, with an average rate of near 40 points. And there is an increasing slope in countries in like Central American, with a rate over 60. A number of explanations have been explored with studies of inequality, organized crime or state incapacity. In spite of this long-term trend there it is shocking to know that there is not a single program at national or regional level to reduce this critical and tragically process.