Dr. George A.O. Alleyne became director of PAHO in 1995 after first joining the Organization nearly 15 years earlier. His stewardship of PAHO has focused on equity and Pan Americanism, promoting the goal of "Health for All" throughout the Americas. A native of Barbados, Dr. Alleyne has been awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community, the highest honor bestowed on a Caribbean national, and in 1990 he was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contributions to the medical field.

A young Venezuelan boy gets a measles shot at school. PAHO-supported vaccination campaigns have helped member countries to greatly reduce the incidence of measles, making progress toward its eradication from the Americas.

A pediatrician examines Luís Fermín Tenorio Cortéz, of Peru (left), the last confirmed case of poliomyelitis in the Americas. Haitian schoolchildren receive vaccines as part of a countrywide immunization campaign. PAHO worked with its member countries to eradicate polio form the Western Hemisphere, an achievement that was finally certified in 1994.

A man places a rose on the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C.. By 2002, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome had claimed more than 600,000 lives in the Americas and made more than 1 million of the Region's adults and children ill.

A nurse hugs an AIDS patient at a hospital in Brazil. Since the disease's discovery in 1981, PAHO has worked steadily with its member countries to reduce the epidemic and relieve the suffering of those it affects.

At the dawn of the 21st century, PAHO's focus is on helping the countries of the Americas ensure the benefits of health to all their peoples. PAHO is working to strengthen national and local health systems in cooperation with government and other international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, universities, professional and community groups, and individuals.

The future of the Americas lies in the health of its peoples. PAHO and all those who work for, with, and alongside it are members of the PAHO family, sharing a common commitment to the goal of "Health for All by All" in this century as well as those to come.