PAHO Centennial Celebrated at World Health Assembly
Geneva, 14 May 2002 (PAHO)--Ministers of health from all countries of the world today congratulated the Pan American Health Organization on its Centennial, citing its leadership and achievements in health over the past century.
Commemorative plaque celebrating PAHO centennial
©2002 WHO/P. Virot |
Meeting at the World Health Assembly, the world's health leaders approved a resolution today citing "the role played by the Pan American Health Organization in the past 100 years in the noteworthy improvement that can be seen in health in the Region of the Americas."
The assembly noted that "the Pan American Health Organization is the oldest international health organization in existence, since it was founded by the Republics of the Americas in December 1902, and has worked uninterruptedly on behalf of the health of its peoples since that time."
WHO Director-General presents commemorative plaque to Dr. José Francisco López Beltrán
©2002 WHO/P. Virot |
The resolution cited "the leadership displayed by the Pan American Health Organization, together with Member States, in the eradication of smallpox and poliomyelitis, and in the significant reduction of cases of measles, almost eliminating it, among other achievements in the Americas in the course of the last 100 years."
Detail of the exhibit presented by PAHO at the Assembly
©2002 WHO/P. Virot |
The World Health Assembly resolved: "To congratulate the Pan American Health Organization on attaining the first centenary of its foundation in this year 2002; To congratulate the Member States of the Americas on the results obtained in improvement of its peoples' health during the past century; to encourage the Member States of the Pan American Health Organization to redouble their efforts to achieve equity in health matters, and to promote the spirit of unity as evidence of the Panamericanism characteristic of the Region during the past 100 years."
The World Health Organization's Director-General, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, also presented a plaque congratulating PAHO on its Centennial to Dr. José Francisco López Beltrán, Minister of Health of El Salvador, who is serving as President of the World Health Assembly. He received the plaque on behalf of the countries of the Americas.
Dr. Bruntland said, "We celebrate a family member, the first regional health organization in the world," calling the Pan American Health Organization "outstanding" and saying the PAHO-WHO partnership "is a quite remarkable example of international cooperation."
An exhibit on the health accomplishments of the Americas was prominently displayed at the Palais des Nations, where the World Health Assembly is held.
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