[Health and development of adolescents and young adults in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges for the next decade].

Adolescents and young adults make up 30% of the population of the Americas. Their health is a key factor in the social, economic, and political development of the region. Nevertheless, their needs are frequently excluded from governments' public and political agendas. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) advances a new conceptual framework focusing on human development and health promotion within the context of family and community, and of social, political, and economic development. The challenge in the near future is to use this framework for establishing comprehensive programs, collect disaggregated data, improve access to services, adolescents' environs, the ties between schools, families and communities, as well as improve and support the transition to adulthood through youth participation and interinstitutional and intersectoral collaboration.