Country-to-Country Cooperation Turns 30

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, signed by 138 U.N.member countries in Argentina in 1978.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is planning a number of activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary during 2008.

The 1978 Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries laid the groundwork for using technical cooperation among countries (TCC) as a development strategy, in which countries work together to develop individual or collective capacity through exchanges of knowledge, skills, resources, and technology.

PAHO is one of few international agencies that have specific budget allotments to support TCCs, and the organization has facilitated more than 250 projects since 1998.

"These are country-driven initiatives," says Mariela Canepa, of PAHO's Country Support Unit. "Countries arrange among themselves, and we support them through the TCC mechanism."

Some recent TCC efforts supported by PAHO include:

• Argentina-Paraguay, to strengthen surveillance of severe cases of E. coli food poisoning and to implement a program for detection of responsible strains of the bacterium in food.
• Belize-Jamaica, to share knowledge and experiences in providing health care for older people.
• Colombia-Ecuador, to strengthen surveillance of common diseases, pesticides, and water quality in border areas.
• Colombia-Panama, to prevent violence in urban areas through public health measures.
• Cuba-Panama, to develop policies, plans, services, and legislation in mental health.
• Guatemala–El Salvador–Nicaragua, to reform mental health services.
• Panama–El Salvador, to improve the availability and quality of rehabilitation services and technical aids for disabled people in remote areas.