At the core of the establishment of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau in 1902 is the determination to stamp out infectious disease epidemics in the Western Hemisphere. Over the decades, preventing, controlling and--in some cases--eradicating diseases has been a major thrust of the Organization's program of technical cooperation with the countries of the Region. The targets have ranged from yellow fever, malaria, Chagas' disease, tuberculosis, and leprosy to diseases preventable by vaccination, hiv/aids, and noncommunicable diseases.

Food protection is among the earliest interests of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau. Governing body recommendations aimed at promoting a safe milk supply, for instance, date as far back as 1927, 1934, and 1938.

Veterinary public health becomes an increasingly important component of the work of the Organization. In 1947, the Pan American Sanitary Conference adopts a resolution proposing an inter-American commission for the study of brucellosis and calls attention to the need to control rabies transmitted by stray dogs. In 1949 veterinary public health becomes an official part of PAHO's institutional structure, with the hiring of the first consultant in veterinary medicine. In 1983 the countries set the goal of eliminating rabies from 414 cities in 20 countries of Latin America; by 1989, 364 of those cities are rabies-free. The need for international cooperation to limit the spread of foot-and-mouth disease spurs the Organization of American States, in 1950, to request that PAHO develop a program to fight the disease; the following year the Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center opens near Rio de Janeiro.

In 1975, the Caribbean Epidemiology Center is established in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Two years later, PAHO launches the Expanded Program on Immunization in the Americas; at the time, only 25-30% of the children in the hemisphere are covered by vaccines against measles, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, tuberculosis, and poliomyelitis.

Today, the successes in eliminating smallpox and poliomyelitis are well known. Soon measles, rubella, neonatal tetanus, human rabies, onchocerciasis, and leprosy will be among the vanquished threats to regional public health--the results of PAHO's effective partnership with the countries of the Americas.