This paper considers the elements that determine the health situation in any country: the
specific hazards to health, the health services, and the general determinants which influence
both the hazards and the services. The expectation of life—the best single measure of the
health situation—is presented for each country of the Americas as representing the resultant
of these determinants. The changing pattern of disease in the Americas—the emergence of
noninfectious diseases as the major problems—is documented, and the need for …