PAHO Director Discusses Health Agenda for the Americas at Brazil Meeting

Río de Janeiro, Aug. 25, 2006 (PAHO)—The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Mirta Roses, said a new Health Agenda for the Americas now under consideration "will be an expression of the shared vision of the countries of the Americas for 10 years" to make concrete improvements in health.

Speaking at the 11th World Congress on Public Health and the 8th Brazilian Congress on Collective Health held in Río de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr. Roses said "The Health Agenda for the Americas will be a framework to orient the development of future health plans and the strategic plans of those organizations interested in cooperating in health with the countries of the Americas, including PAHO/WHO."

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Brazilian health authorities were present at the opening of the meeting with Dr. Roses, where she said that despite enormous global challenges including economic and environmental vulnerabilities and fragile government capacity to meet some of these challenges, these problems "also create extraordinary opportunities that demand creative thinking and collective solutions to build a more secure, peaceful and healthier world."

The event, organized by the World Federation of Public Health Associations and the Brazilian Association of Collective Health, brought together policy-makers and experts in governments, public health associations, international organizations, research institutes, and academia from across the globe to discuss "Public Health in a Globalized World" and the strengthening and development of public health for all.

"PAHO is present in this World Congress in Rio de Janeiro because it draws together the regional and global public health community in the framework of our hemispheric efforts to advance the public health agenda in the Americas," said Dr. Roses. "This is an opportunity for the region's health sector to gather for the continuing strengthening of networks to interchange experiences and debate. These efforts and commitments are achieving substantive progress in our countries' health indicators. However, we must recognize that there is still much work ahead, especially in the thematic areas of the unconcluded public health agenda, and the experiences that are being presented at this Congress will help us find solutions," she added.

Dr. Roses said "Brazil is a country with significant advances in public health and has achieved leadership in critical areas of public health, such as the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially the successful efforts in prevention, with an open social policy. Our Region has met and surpassed the regional goals of antiretroviral coverage by providing access to those patients who need it, and all governments of Latin America and the Caribbean are committed to provide access in their countries and are working toward that goal," she said.

Several important forums and panels were held at the World Congress in Brazil, including the "PAHO bioethics, public health and Health Policy Forum" on Tuesday with Dr. Roses, Dr. Carlos Castillo-Salgado, Dr. Eliot Sorel of George Washington University, and Dr. Fernando Lolas. The forum featured field presentations by Jose Eduardo de Siqueira, Fermin Roland Schramm, Douglas Martin and Derick Aarons on bioethics theory and practice. "Bioethics has also become a significant partner in decision making processes regarding rights to health, equity in healthcare systems, social determinants of health, as well as in examining the challenges posed by the new frontiers in sciences, medical technologies and their public health consequences," said Dr. Sorel, who co-chaired the forum with Dr. Lolas of PAHO's Bioethics program.

Dr. Roses coordinated a panel on women in decision-making roles, along with the Health Minister of Nicaragua, Margarita Gurdián López, and her Bolivian counterpart, Nila Heredia, and gave a presentation on professional education in health and the PAHO perspective on the Decade of Human Resources in Health.

PAHO, founded in 1902, works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the quality of life of their peoples. It also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of WHO.