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 The Newsletter of the Pan American Health Organization


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Roses Spotlights Pan American Health Cooperation in Country Visits

In recent weeks, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Mirta Roses Periago traveled to Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama and Ecuador for official visits aimed at strengthening PAHO's ties with its member countries. She met with high-level officials and represented the organization in a number of local, national and international activities related to cooperation in health.


Gabriel Macaya (left), rector of the University of Costa Rica, signed an agreement with PAHO Director Mirta Roses Periago in August to develop an information service on gender and health (see article). Roses visited Costa Rica as part of an official three-country tour.  ©PAHO Costa Rica

In Brasilia, Roses participated in the Seventh Brazilian Congress on Collective Health, inaugurated by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She addressed the congress on "International Cooperation in a Globalized World," highlighting PAHO's role as the major international health forum in the Americas. Organized by the Brazilian Association for Collective Health (ABRASCO), the event drew more than 10,000 participants from the public and private sectors.

Roses also met with Brazilian Minister of Health Humberto Costa and attended the 20th Conference of the Latin American Association of Schools of Public Health (ALAESP), where she discussed strategies to improve human resources in public health in the region. She also traveled to the state of Goias, meeting with Deputy Governor Alcides Rodrigues Filho and Secretary of Health Fernando Cupertino, who discussed their state's successes with decentralized cooperation. In Rio de Janeiro, Roses met with state Secretary of Health Gilson Cantarino and exchanged ideas on a new project for preventing violence.

In Costa Rica, Roses signed an agreement between PAHO and the University of Costa Rica to develop an online information service on gender and health. She also met with Minister of Health Maria del Rocio Saenz Madrigal and members of the national health council to discuss PAHO's technical cooperation in Costa Rica.

In Panama, Roses took part in a meeting of high-level health and sanitation officials from Central America and the Dominican Republic, known as RESSCAD. The group, among other things, coordinated regional efforts to prevent cholera in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Roses told participants in the meeting that PAHO expects to announce this December that Central America is now cholera-free.

In Ecuador, Roses visited the mostly indigenous towns of Cotacachi and Pedro Moncayo, where she met with community leaders. She praised the towns' efforts, with PAHO support, to foster popular participation in community development, and she proposed that the district be used as a model program for decentralization.

In Quito, Roses met with Ecuadorian President Alfredo Palacio and with Minister of Health Ernesto Gutierrez to discuss PAHO's technical cooperation programs in Ecuador. She also participated in a meeting of the National Health Council and was decorated with Ecuador's National Order of Honorato Vasquez.