{"id":136,"date":"2026-06-02T16:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/cms\/?post_type=noticia&#038;p=136"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:00:39","slug":"ximena-aguilera-abordo-la-soledad-como-un-desafio-prioritario-para-la-salud-publica-en-el-desconcierto","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/noticias\/ximena-aguilera-abordo-la-soledad-como-un-desafio-prioritario-para-la-salud-publica-en-el-desconcierto\/","title":{"rendered":"Ximena Aguilera addressed loneliness as a priority challenge for public health in El Desconcierto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ximena Aguilera,<\/strong> director of the Health Observatory at Diego Portales University, published an opinion piece in El Desconcierto titled \u201cLoneliness is a globally recognized public health problem,\u201d in which she analyzed the growing international recognition of loneliness and social isolation as factors that significantly affect people&#8217;s health.<\/p>\n<p>In her article, Aguilera highlighted that social connection was once again included on the agenda of the World Health Assembly and recalled that in 2025, Chile, along with Spain, spearheaded a resolution approved by more than 130 countries at the World Health Organization (WHO), aimed at promoting social connection as a tool to address loneliness, isolation, and health inequities.<\/p>\n<p>The academic referenced the WHO Commission on Social Connection report, a document that compiles scientific evidence on the effects of loneliness on physical and mental health. Among her findings, she highlighted that one in six people worldwide experiences chronic loneliness and that this condition is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and dementia.<\/p>\n<p>She also noted that the phenomenon particularly affects children and young people, who exhibit levels of loneliness equal to or even higher than those observed in older adults. In this regard, she warned about the challenges facing contemporary society in strengthening social bonds within a context marked by high technological connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>In the column, Aguilera argued that loneliness must be understood as a collective, not merely individual, problem, and therefore requires responses from public policy. She also praised initiatives developed in Chile that contribute to strengthening community networks, especially those promoted through primary healthcare and other social gathering spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Read the column at the <a href=\"https:\/\/eldesconcierto.cl\/opinion\/la-soledad-es-un-problema-salud-publica-reconocido-mundialmente-n5459190\">following link.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ximena Aguilera, director of the Health Observatory at Diego Portales University, published an opinion piece in El Desconcierto titled \u201cLoneliness is a globally recognized public health problem,\u201d in which she analyzed the growing international recognition of loneliness and social isolation as factors that significantly affect people&#8217;s health. In her article, Aguilera highlighted that social connection [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":137,"template":"","categoria_noticia":[24],"tematica":[7],"foco":[],"class_list":["post-136","noticia","type-noticia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria_noticia-noticias","tematica-situacion-de-salud"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticia\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticia"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categoria_noticia","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria_noticia?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"tematica","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tematica?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"foco","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoriosalud.udp.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/foco?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}