FIRST WORD:
The Human Face of Health
We are proud to present to you the premier issue of Perspectives in Health published by the Pan American Health Organization.
Why Perspectives in Health, you might ask, and why now? The answer to the first question is quite simply that we hope to persuade our readers, through the quality of the written word and the visual impact of photography, to think differently about health. In a word, PAHO's perspective is that health contributes to human development and that the progress of nations neither can--nor will--be sustained without a healthy population. Therefore, the status of the public's health must be elevated in our political agendas everywhere.
We won't promote PAHO, per se. Our purpose is much broader. First, we want to tell a good story--something human nature finds innately appealing--and secondly, we hope to trigger a visceral response in our readers leading to a deeper understanding of the potential role health can play in transforming modern society.
The answer to the second question--why now--is that we want to show what we can do together as members of the global community; perhaps what we must do together--out of necessity, in the face of shrinking budgets--and because of the issue of accountability. The so-called "young democracies" of the Americas may be fragile, but their constituencies are savvy. Citizens and communities increasingly want to be heard and to play an active role in the development of their countries. They expect their leaders to work harder to satisfy basic needs--health principal among them--and to sustain a sense of political stability and social well-being.
The third question might well be: why does PAHO wish to be the catalyst for this discussion? Part of that answer is revealed in the archival photo essay with which we open the magazine. PAHO, as the Western Hemisphere's oldest international agency specialized in public health issues, has historically demonstrated a pioneering spirit. In recent years, it championed the extraordinary efforts to eradicate smallpox and polio from the Americas--a testemony to the power of communities and nations when they unite to combat disease and promote health.
Health is not something outside of us; it has no otherness. It should and must be translated into a noble cause for which humankind can struggle, on an equal footing with world peace, human rights, and other causes of universal resonance.
Because of its expertise in the field of public health, PAHO will be a major agent in reshaping the way we think about health and is providing a forum for this thinking to take place.
Perspectives in Health will succeed to the extent to which it challenges readers to step outside the confines of comfortable traditional thinking. We look forward to your reactions to this first issue and will include them in a letters to the editor column next time.
To your health,
Dr. George Alleyne
Director, Pan American Health Organization
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