PAHO hosts Fulbright interns
PAHO will offer summer internships in international public health for students from Latin America and the Caribbean as part of a new cooperative agreement with the Fulbright Fellows Program. The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the United States Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education, brings foreign students and scholars to the United States for educational exchanges. The first cohort of PAHO-Fulbright interns, from Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti, and Nicaragua, will work in the technical areas of HIV/AIDS, noncommunicable diseases, maternal and child health, and sustainable development and environmental health. The initiative is part of a larger effort by PAHO's Human Resources for Health unit to build a strong internship program in cooperation with other training institutions and educational organizations.

Brazil marks Chagas milestone
Brazil has become the first Latin American country to eliminate transmission of Chagas' disease by the so-called assassin bug, Triatoma infestans. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) marked the milestone on June 9 by presenting Minister of Health Agenor Álvares with an International Elimination of Transmission of Chagas' Disease Certificate. The achievement was confirmed by an international expert commission based on visits to every Brazilian state. In 2005 just over 200 insects were found in some 1.9 million residences, and none of the insects presented a risk of transmitting the disease. A similar survey 25 years ago found 250,000 bugs in a residential sample of the same size. Blood tests on 90,000 children under 5 found only eight cases of Chagas. Jarbas Barbosa, Brazil's secretary of health surveillance, says surveillance remains key since there are other Chagas vectors that are wild and not eradicable. "So there will always be a risk. But Chagas' disease in Brazil will now become an occasional, accidental disease, with a very small number of cases."

Field office opens in Colombia's Chocó

Children from Colombia's Chocó region pose for a photograph. A new PAHO field office will support efforts to improve the health of the area's largely Afro-descended and indigenous population. ©Arturo Silva PAHO/WHO

PAHO has opened a new field office in Quibdó, Department of Chocó, Colombia, following requests by regional and local government leaders from the area. The new office will work closely with the Chocó Department of Health, municipal officials, the Ministry of Social Protection, and other partners including Colombia's Ministry of Health, the Red Cross, the Catholic Church, UNICEF, and Doctors Without Borders to improve the health of the region's inhabitants. The Chocó region is one of Colombia's poorest, with 70 percent of the population living in poverty and 18 percent living in extreme poverty. Chocó mothers are 3.5 times more likely to die in childbirth than mothers in Bogotá, and rates of infant mortality, tuberculosis, dengue, and malaria are also much higher. PAHO has been promoting the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy in the area for the past four years. Departmental health authorities have carried out major efforts to boost vaccination coverage and promote healthy housing.

MDG advocates network at PAHO
More than 300 young people working to promote the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathered at PAHO headquarters in March to share their experiences and cultivate like-minded contacts in the Washington, D.C., area. Participants included professionals from international and nongovernmental organizations, universities, and other agencies. The event was designed to create a network of young professionals dedicated to the MDGs and to raise awareness of PAHO's efforts, progress, and challenges in helping the hemisphere meet the goals. The keynote speakers were Eveline Herfkens, United Nations executive coordinator for the MDGs, and Guy Djoken, executive director of the UNESCO Center for Peace.The event was a joint effort of PAHO, the United Nations Development Program, and the Washington chapter of the United Nations Association. It was cosponsored by 15 other organizations, including the Millennium Campaign, the World Food Program, and Save the Children. Organizers hope to create a Young MDG Professional Hemispheric Network in the near future.

PAHO HQ friendly to breastfeeding
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Washington D.C. Breastfeeding Coalition have cited PAHO with an honorable mention as a "Breastfeeding Friendly Employer." The citation recognizes employers who support breastfeeding employees by fostering an environment in the workplace or implementing leave time or other policies that facilitate breastfeeding. PAHO's Nursing Leave Policy, adopted in April 2005, provides a designated breastfeeding room where mothers can breastfeed their infants or express and refrigerate breast milk. The policy also grants up to two hours daily of nursing breaks for up to two years and, under special circumstances, provides for nursing infants to accompany their mothers on duty travel. PAHO/WHO recommends that infants be breastfed exclusively for six months and breastfed with complementary foods for up to two years or more.

Communicating in a pandemic
PAHO is organizing a series of risk communication workshops to help officials do a better job of communicating developments in avian and pandemic influenza. The most recent workshop, held in Buenos Aires in June, brought teams of communicators from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, and Uruguay, representing ministries of health, agriculture, education, foreign relations, civil defense, tourism and finance. Discussions focused on basic principles of risk and crisis communication, components of national communication strategies, and culturally appropriate messages for different publics. Key documents cited were WHO's Outbreak Communication Guidelines and PAHO's Creating a Communication Strategy for Avian/Pandemic Influenza. Similar PAHO workshops have been held in the Bahamas and Trinidad and are being planned for other countries.