Scientists Review Advances in Scientific Research in the Americas
Washington, DC, November 3, 2003 (PAHO)—Scientists from throughout the Americas opened a meeting here Monday to review the current status of scientific research in the region.
The three-day meeting being is being held at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The 15-member Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) – which includes eminent scientists from several hemispheric nations – will review the initiatives and strategies of technical cooperation by PAHO agencies for the promotion and development of health research.
The task this year has mainly to do with the management of information and knowledge.
The meeting was officially opened by PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses, who said that faced with "inequity, urban growth and poverty the likes of which this continent had never witnessed before – poverty has tripled since the 1970s – we see knowledge not as something static, but as a tool to change the situation."
Roses said that development and access to knowledge are essential to meet the new challenges and to sustain the progress made in the area of health. "In this regard," she said, "the trail-blazing work of ACHR helps show the way by pointing out the best ways to reach those objectives."
Dr. Richard Van West Charles, PAHO’s area manager for Information and Knowledge Management, noted that one of the elements for gaining knowledge is research.
"Research is often perceived as a tool of exploitation by the powerful, or as just a way to publish it in a scientific magazine. However, it is a vital component of development and, as such, must be accessible to all levels of society." For this to be possible, he said, every PAHO initiative must have a communications component that aims to reach wide and diverse audience.
Van West Charles also said that PAHO is working strongly to transform the traditional way in which knowledge is regarded. "We have to learn to share knowledge, using existing technologies and understanding it as a tool for action. We’re also working to better organize the collection and analysis of data, attain knowledge, and evaluate the impact of scientific research in the region," he noted.
The experts gathered at the PAHO meeting agreed on the need to create and consolidate more information networks and to work in an inter-disciplinary manner.
"The issue of health is an issue of social production," Roses said. "PAHO, initially, was created to manage information and transform it into action. It is that spirit that we want to rescue" – always with the goal of overcoming the inequities that still exist in the hemisphere and to raise the quality of life of its people.
ACHR was founded in 1962, to help contribute significantly to the formulation of policies and strategies for the technical cooperation research tasks of PAHO. The committee reviews the research activities carried out or supported by PAHO, monitors their execution and evaluates results.
PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world’s oldest public health organization. PAHO works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of its people. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States, and Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.
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