Canadian, U.S., Argentine Citizens Receive PAHO Awards
Washington, DC, September 22, 2003 (PAHO)—A former Canadian provincial prime minister, a Brazilian-born U.S. physician, and an Argentine doctor are the winners of PAHO awards and were honored at the meeting of PAHO’s 44th Directing Council today.
The awards were conferred in a ceremony during the meeting of health ministers at the Pan American Health Organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., being held Sept. 22-26. The winners are:
- Roy J. Romanow, Premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 through 2001: He receives the 2003 PAHO Award for Administration for his outstanding contribution to the development of the Canadian Health System on behalf of the Canadian Prime Minister.
The award was given to Romanow particularly for his work in the creation of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and in leading the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.
Romanow is internationally regarded as a leading figure in health policy and administration.
He served as Saskatchewan’s Deputy Premier, Attorney General and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs during the 1970s and early 1980s. In addition, he played an important role in the successful constitutional agreements of 1982, including the adoption of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- Dr. Martin R. Eichelberger won the 2003 Abraham Horwitz Award for Leadership in Inter-American Health. The award recognizes and encourages excellence and leadership in health among persons working in the Americas, who produce ideas and work of regional significance.
Dr. Eichelberger is a U.S. citizen born in Brazil. He is the 26th winner of PAHO’s Abraham Horwitz Award since 1978.
- Dr. Rosa Angelina Pace received a third award, the 2003 Manuel Velasco Suarez Award in Bioethics. Dr. Pace works for the School of Medicine of Buenos Aires’ Italian Hospital. She has done research work for PAHO in the field of ethical and technical aspects of organ transplants. The Manuel Velasco Suarez prize was first awarded in 2002 to Dr. Deborah Diniz of Brazil.
The Pan American Health and Education Foundation created this award in 2002, in cooperation with PAHO and the government of Mexico. It was named in honor of Dr. Manuel Velasco Suarez, a Mexican physician, researcher and scholar who founded the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, and of the Mexican National Bioethics Commission.
The Manuel Velasco Suarez Award is one of five international awards given by the Foundation – in cooperation with PAHO – to stimulate health excellence in public health leadership, volunteerism, research and veterinary public health.
The Directing Council is the governing body of the Pan American Health Organization. Composed of Ministers of Health from all countries in the Americas, it meets annually to set health policies and receive new reports on the state of health in the Americas. This week, agenda items for the Council include a report on health in the Americas, sustaining immunization programs and the elimination of Rubella, preparations for the influenza pandemic, dengue, the impact of violence on health, integrated management of childhood illness and the Millennium Development Goals, and other topics.
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world’s oldest public health organization. It works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of its people. PAHO also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
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