U.N. agencies urge prompt food action
The regional heads of United Nations agencies working in Latin America and the Caribbean issued a call in late April for the region's governments to take urgent steps to protect mothers, children, and other vulnerable groups from the effects of rapidly rising food prices. The U.N. Economic Commission on LatinAmerica (ECLAC), one of six agencies that signed the plea, reports that food prices have risen 80 percent since 2006, threatening to plunge some 10 million people into poverty and another 10 million into extreme poverty. Data from the World Food Program (WFP) show that rural families today purchase 50 percent less food than they did 18 months ago with the same amount of money. Already some 22 million families in the PAHO region depend on food aid through conditional cash transfers. The agencies called for emergency food interventions, strengthening of nutritional safety nets, support for small farmers, and strengthening of cash transfer programs. Other agencies participating in the joint call were the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF, and PAHO.

New fellowships promote health leadership
A new PAHO fellowship program will prepare mid-career professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean for leadership positions in international health. The Leaders in International Health Program will give participants both classroom and hands-on experience in areas including international treaties and agreements, cross-sector policies and collaboration, new health technologies, migration and health, the social determinants of health, the right to health, and the impact of global and market forces on health. Eligible applicants must hold a master's degree in public health, international relations, or a related field and must be a resident of Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, or Peru (in 2009, the program will be open to other countries). For more information click here.

PAHO rep honored for TB work
Pier Paolo Balladelli, PAHO's representative in Colombia, was honored by the Colombian Anti-tuberculosis League in February for his contributions to the prevention, control, and treatment of TB in indigenous areas of Colombia. The league congratulated Balladelli in particular for working with the Colombian Academy of Medicine to organize a subregional meeting on TB-HIV coinfection, scheduled for March 2009. The meeting will bring together experts on TB and HIV from Andean countries to strengthen efforts to control and treat cases of coinfection through better surveillance and shared practices. Colombia alone reported nearly 11,000 new cases of TB last year. Colombia's Ministry of Social Protection and National Institute of Health are supporting preparatory work for the meeting.

Chile makes gains on cervical cancer
Cervical cancer death rates have declined nearly 60 percent in the two decades since Chile launched its National Cervical Cancer Program in 1987. Deaths among Chilean women ages 35 to 64 (the group most at risk for the disease) declined 58 percent, from over 28 per 100,000 in 1987 to less than 12 per 100,000 in 2005, according to data presented at a celebration of the program's 20th anniversary in Viña del Mar last November. Key elements of the program have included promotion of the Pap smear among women 25 to 64 years old, creation of a National Reference Laboratory, production of educational materials, and the publication of treatment protocols for the disease. Since 2003, the National Cervical Cancer Program has been part of Chile's Explicit Guarantees in Health system, which guarantees prompt access to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up for patients suffering from prevalent diseases. Some 200 Chilean health professionals attended the cervical cancer program's 20th anniversary celebration.

Reporters lauded for HIV journalism
An article that describes the trauma of finding out one has HIV without receiving counseling or other support won top honors in the 3rd Latin American Award for Health Journalism contest, sponsored by Red Salud ("Health Network"), a project of PAHO, the Communication Initiative, and the Ibero-American Foundation for New Journalism. The 2007 contest focused on the subject of HIV testing. Reporter Nicolás Maldonado of El Día in La Plata, Argentina, wrote the winning article as part of a series on people living with HIV. The second-place winner was Mariana Rivera, of Terra Colombia, for her article "Facing a Giant Mosquito," about her experiences taking the HIV test. Third prize went to José Rodrigo Baires Quezada, of El Faro in El Salvador, for "Day of the Test," which follows his country's National HIV Test Day campaign. The first prize ($2,000) was presented to Maldonado at a roundtable debate on "The Media and HIV" in Buenos Aires on April 4.