PAHO Focuses Efforts on Hemisphere's Five Neediest Countries
Washington, DC, May 19, 2004 (PAHO)—Bolivia, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua are currently the highest-priority countries for the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO) technical cooperation programs.
PAHO Director Mirta Roses Periago outlined the organization's stepped-up assistance to these countries in a presentation to the 57th World Health Assembly, in which representatives of the 192 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) are meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland.
The five priority countries are the region's lowest-ranking in terms of life expectancy and per capita income. Roses described the health situation in the countries as "ethically intolerable and avoidable."
"Solidarity and equity values anchor our work in public health," Roses told delegates to the assembly. "And they can also galvanize international efforts around the priority countries." She added that PAHO has at its disposal the "technical skills, appropriate interventions and political will, yet appropriate financial resources are essential to move ahead."
PAHO's focus on these countries falls within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals, a commitment by 189 governments to address global development challenges through concrete steps ranging from the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger to reducing infant and maternal mortality, and combating AIDS. Health targets figure prominently among the Millennium Development Goals.
"There is an urgent need to address this unfinished agenda in health, which is so acutely evident in our priority countries," said Roses.
Delegates from the five countries, among them the ministers of health of Guyana and Haiti, called for stepped-up technical cooperation to their countries, citing their needs but also their accomplishments in health. Following Roses' presentation, representatives of other countries of the Americas offered bilateral technical cooperation.
The countries' designation as top-priority for PAHO's work is based on a composite index combining life expectancy and per capita income. Most of the countries fall well below the regional average on these measures as well as others, including the percentage of physician-attended births and physicians per 1,000 inhabitants. In Bolivia, there are only 1.3 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, and in Haiti, only 0.2. WHO's World Health Report 2004 notes that life expectancy in Haiti fell from 57 in 1993 to 50 years in 2002, primarily as a result of AIDS. Maternal mortality rates in the five countries are comparable to rates in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States.
Between 43 percent and 63 percent of the population of the five countries lives below the poverty line. In addition, all face major deficiencies and inequities in their health care systems.
Roses emphasized that international support is crucial for addressing these problems. She quoted WHO Director-General LEE Jong-wook, saying: "No single organization—national or international—has the mandate, capacity or resources to achieve all these targets. Public-private partnerships at a global, regional, country and local level are necessary to mobilize resources and plan, implement and monitor these activities."
Much of the discussions at this year's World Health Assembly have focused on AIDS. In 2003, an estimated 3 million people died of AIDS and 5 million became infected.
The assembly is also addressing other key issues of international public health, including nutrition, reproductive health, global health, health needs in crisis situations, mental health, substance abuse, and the eradication of polio and measles.
The keynote speaker for today's plenary session was former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who emphasized the importance of promoting a global vision of health and the need to promote greater international cooperation in health.
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 quality of life of their peoples, and also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO).
|
