MEDIA
ADVISORY

Swearing In for New Deputy Director and Assistant Director

WHAT: The swearing-in ceremony for the Pan American Health Organization's new deputy director, Dr. Joxel García, and assistant director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 5, 2003, at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE: PAHO Headquarters, 525 23rd St., N.W., in Room A on the 2nd Floor. PAHO is at Virginia Avenue and 23rd St., some 4 blocks south of Foggy Bottom Metro.

WHO: Dr. Joxel García, a native of Puerto Rico and former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, will be sworn in as PAHO deputy director. Dr. Carissa Etienne, former official of the Ministry of Health of Dominica and head of its National AIDS Program, will become PAHO's assistant director.

WHY: The Pan American Health Organization, founded in 1902, works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the living standards of their peoples. It serves as the Regional Office of the World Health Organization, and has offices in 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as nine scientific and technical centers apart from its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

PAHO's technical programs are divided into four broad Areas: Disease Prevention and Control, Family and Community Health, Sustainable Development and Environmental Health, and Technology and Health Services Delivery. The Organization also works on Health Analysis and Information System and Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief. PAHO's achievements are many, including the eradication of small pox and polio in the Western Hemisphere as well as the current measles-free status for the past six months.