The Newsletter of the Pan American Health Organization - November 2005New PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers
Fifteen new Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Collaborating Centers have become active during 2005. The centers support PAHO/WHO's work by focusing on priority areas of the organizations. Seven of the new centers were reported in the last edition of PAHO Today; eight others are described below.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center on Patient Safety. The center will assess the international health care environment to identify emerging high-risk or high-visibility patient safety issues and will collaboratively develop, disseminate, and support the implementation of evidence-based solutions. It will also provide education to the international health care community on patient safety solutions and support the work of the WHO-based World Alliance for Patient Safety.
Health Canada's Food Research Division (Food Directorate, Bureau of Chemical Safety) in Ottawa has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Food Contamination Monitoring. The center will participate in the Global Environment Monitoring System's Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Program (GEMS/Food) by providing data on levels of pesticides, dioxins/furans, flame retardants, radionuclides, trace elements, acrylamide, veterinary drugs, and heavy metals in food. It will also provide analytical training and cooperate in the design and implementation of food monitoring programs in countries around the world.
The International Section of the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Mental Health Training and Policy. The center will evaluate mental health policy, legislation, and reforms; provide education and training for mental health and primary health care professionals; offer postgraduate training in psychiatry; and disseminate and help implement an innovative skill-set-based training model internationally.
The National Medical Sciences Information Center in Havana, Cuba, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for the Development of the Virtual Health Library (VHL). The center will provide technical cooperation in the development of the VHL in the English-speaking Caribbean. It will assist in the development of national plans for the construction of the VHL; assist in the development, operation, and evaluation of information sources; provide methodological training at the managerial and technical levels and internships and distance education in health information and knowledge management; and cooperate with the BIREME VHL, based in Brazil, to promote equitable access to health information through new methodologies and technologies available worldwide for the management of digital collections.
The Center for Health Systems Research at the National Institute of Public Health in Cuernavaca, Mexico, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center on Injuries and Violence Research. The center will conduct research and capacity building for the surveillance, understanding, and prevention of injuries and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will help implement traffic injury prevention programs, strengthen pre-hospital care for victims of violence injuries, participate with other PAHO/WHO collaborating centers to build and support international and national programs on injury prevention and trauma care, and assist PAHO/WHO in the preparation of technical documents and publications in these areas.
The Center for the Study of Violence at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Research on Violence Prevention. The center will develop methods for studying the determinants of violence in developing countries; identify good practices for interpersonal violence prevention; evaluate violence prevention programs and work to strengthen national action plans and policies in this area; provide training for staff of government institutions, civil society, and nongovernmental organizations; contribute to the development of integrated and multisectoral approaches to violence prevention; and support the global campaign on violence prevention.
The Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, in Santiago, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for the Teaching of Geriatrics and Gerontology. The center will provide professional training in social gerontology, form partnerships with other Latin American countries to provide postgraduate training in geriatrics, develop demonstration projects and conduct evaluations of community health programs for older adults, and translate international literature on elderly care for practitioners in Latin America.
The Third Age Open University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been named PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Elder Health Promotion. The center will promote the concept of "active aging" for older adults through research, information systematization, and dissemination; participation in policymaking for the elderly; support for community-based programs; and human resources training.