The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is the oldest international public health agency in the world. For nearly 100 years it has worked to improve the health and living standards of the people of the Americas.

What is PAHO?
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is the oldest international public health agency in the world. For nearly 100 years it has worked to improve the health and living standards of the people of the Americas.

From its Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and under the leadership of Dr. George A.O. Alleyne of Barbados, PAHO directs the scientific and technical efforts of experts in 27 country offices and in nine scientific centers. Its Member States include all the countries of the Western Hemisphere as well as France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

PAHO is part of the United Nations system, and also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization and as the health organization of the Inter-American System.

The organization is not a financing agency but rather a technical cooperation agency. In other words, PAHO helps countries share technical information and assists in the mobilization of health resources. It also executes projects for other agencies, international organizations and philanthropic foundations. Its deputy director is Dr. David Brandling-Bennett of the United States, and its assistant director is Dr. Mirta Roses Periago of Argentina.

How is PAHO funded?
PAHO's annual budget for its core programs totals about $128 million. Of this amount, the World Health Organization provides about $39 million. The remaining $89 million comes from assessed contributions from PAHO's Member Governments. Voluntary contributions from the international community are in excess of about $100 million a year. In addition, PAHO receives support from the United Kingdom, France, Holland, Spain, the Nordic countries and others.

What countries belong to PAHO?
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela. Participating Governments are France, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Puerto Rico is an Associate Member and Portugal and Spain are Observers.

Where are the scientific and technical centers operated by PAHO?
Regional Bioethics Program in Chile, Caribbean Epidemiology Center (CAREC) in Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) in Jamaica, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) in Guatemala, Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME) in Brazil, Latin American Center for Perinatology and Human Development (CLAP) in Uruguay, Pan American Center for Human Ecology and Health (ECO) in Mexico, Pan American Institute for Food Protection and Zoonoses (INPPAZ) in Argentina, Pan American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center (PANAFTOSA) in Brazil, and the Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS) in Peru.

What is PAHO's mission?
PAHO's mission is to improve the health of the peoples of the Americas and to strengthen health systems. It works in collaboration with the ministries of health of member nations, other government and international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, universities, community groups and many others.

PAHO promotes primary health care strategies to reach people in their communities and to extend health services equitably to all individuals?especially those who are vulnerable and impoverished.

In addition, PAHO provides technical assistance, including education and social communications support; trains health care professionals; promotes work with grassroots organizations; and supports programs to prevent transmission of communicable diseases and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer, which are increasing in developing countries in the Americas. It also helps countries fight old diseases that have re-emerged?such as cholera, dengue and tuberculosis?and new diseases such as the spreading AIDS epidemic.

What are PAHO's priorities?
Equity. PAHO focuses on providing the most vulnerable groups with equal access to quality healthcare. These include mothers and children, laborers, the poor, the elderly, refugees and displaced persons. Specific initiatives strive to give the vulnerable populations equal access to improved drinking water and adequate sanitation. PAHO also works to ensure that the countries' ?have-nots? benefit from environmental protections against air and industrial pollution, including toxic waste. In addition, efforts are directed at reducing pernicious gender inequity, reducing domestic abuse and providing information on reproductive health.

Infant mortality. A major priority for the Americas is to cut infant mortality. PAHO is mobilizing new resources to prevent an additional 25,000 infant deaths every year through the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness strategy, a simple and practical approach that teaches health workers a complete protocol for evaluating the health status of children brought to a health post or clinic. If health workers detect danger signs indicating the infant could die, they are taught how to treat the child immediately or, if necessary, to take the child to a hospital. This integrated approach helps reduce the death and illness toll from diarrheal diseases, including cholera, through case management and oral rehydration therapy, which prevents deaths from dehydration. By also providing adequate diagnosis and treatment of acute respiratory infections, the protocol saves the lives of hundreds of thousands of children each year.

Epidemiological capacity. PAHO is intensifying its efforts to help countries learn the true state of their populations' health through technological assistance. Understanding epidemiological trends can lead to improvement of quality of life.

Panamericanism. PAHO refers to the regional cooperation among countries on health issues as ?Panamericanism.? The spirit and approaches of Panamericanism are deeply embedded in PAHO's history and continue to stimulate technical cooperation among countries. PAHO has helped countries work cooperatively, initiating multi-country health ventures in Central America, the Caribbean, the Andean Region and the Southern Cone. Its field office on the US-Mexico border works with states and counties on both sides of the border to solve common health problems.

Blood supply. Action is necessary to increase the supplies of safe blood banks. Most PAHO countries do not screen 100 percent of donated units of blood for disease and infection. Further, in countries where blood is collected from paid donors, the risk of infection rises. Ensuring that volunteers free of disease donate all blood for transfusion is a critical goal for PAHO.

Immunization. PAHO is committed to eliminating or controlling vaccine-preventable disease. One of PAHO's most notable successes in this area was the eradication of smallpox from the Americas in 1973, a triumph that led five years later to global eradication of the dreaded disease. In 1994, PAHO assisted in the elimination of polio from the Americas. Polio eradication is now a global goal for 2005, and PAHO has set a new target of eliminating measles from this hemisphere.

Information dissemination. PAHO disseminates scientific and technical information through publications, its Internet site and a network of libraries and documentation centers. It is a leader in the use of advanced communications technologies for health promotion, education and a variety of specialized public health fields.

Disaster relief. The organization provides emergency humanitarian relief and technical assistance to regions struck by natural disasters.

Disease control and nutritional improvement. PAHO supports efforts to control malaria, Chagas' disease, dengue, urban rabies, leprosy and other diseases that affect people in the Americas. PAHO also addresses major nutritional problems, including protein-energy malnutrition, and is working to eliminate iodine and vitamin A deficiencies.

Preventive health. PAHO helps countries to identify and promote healthy lifestyles and to cope with issues of mental health, family health, reproductive health and nutrition. It also assists countries with health problems typically found in developed and urbanized cultures, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, accidents, smoking, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and others. PAHO's Governing Bodies have mandated PAHO to move aggressively in the fight to reduce the use of tobacco, emphasizing the negative health consequences and high costs of tobacco use.