Abstract

The focus of this joint IEA Regional workshop, co-organised by the IEA North American Region and the IEA Latin American and Caribbean region, is “Linking the global South and North in the Americas: building hemispheric ties and solidarity to prepare for the 2014 IEA World Congress of Epidemiology in Alaska.” Premised on the understanding that social justice is the foundation of public health, the purpose of our workshop is to bring together epidemiologists from across the Americas—as well as from any other region—to think together, imagine together, and work together to inspire ideas for presentations and perspectives of the upcoming IEA World Congress of Epidemiology to be held in Anchorage, Alaska in 2014. The working theme of WCE 2014 is Global Epidemiology in a Changing Environment: The Circumpolar Perspective. Creating a forum to address these issues, even from a circumpolar perspective, calls for an integrated approach from the Americas and the Caribbean, one that addresses the health status and needs of the region's myriad populations, including Indigenous peoples, immigrants, diverse racial / ethnic groups, and all those affected by social and economic deprivation and discrimination, in relation to not only race / ethnicity but also social class, gender, and sexuality. These are just a few of the issues we hope to investigate at WCE 2014. Please join us in this workshop opportunity as we plan for a truly global Congress.