Dr. Mirta Roses Sets Commitments as New Director of PAHO

Washington, January 30, 2003 (PAHO) – Renewing her commitment to work for public health in the Americas, Dr. Mirta Roses Periago was sworn in today as the new director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), becoming the first Argentine and first woman to lead the Organization.

"We are committed to health for all, to the strategy of primary health care strategy, to health promotion, and to the reduction of inequities and social exclusion." Dr. Roses said. She said her commitments would include:

Restore the Pan American Health Organization as the main forum for health in the Americas, opening it to participation by all sectors of society.
Build consensus and forge alliances, strengthening the continental and global solidarity, and gaining new social actors to defend health.
Address the new dimensions of health in the processes of the economic, social and political integration of the continent.
Advocate continuous improvement in health systems, promoting rapid progress in access to health services and extending social protection in accordance with the mandates of the summits of presidents and heads of state.
Renew the commitment and pride of all health workers and organizations, emphasizing the importance of quality of care, accountability, and evidence-based practices.
Convert PAHO into the preeminent health information reference center, facilitating access to knowledge using all means available, including modern information systems and mass communication.

The inauguration was held at the headquarters of PAHO, which just celebrated its Centennial, with the children’s choir of the Washington International School and the PAHO choir singing folkloric songs of the Americas. In her first address as director, Dr. Roses spoke to health ministers, ambassadors and PAHO staff. But she also addressed indigenous and religious leaders, women who work in assembly plants, and the centenarians of Dominica and other elderly persons, telling them, "This Director and her team will be defending your health"

After thanking outgoing Director Dr. George Alleyne, World Health Organization Director Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Vice President of Ecuador, Dr. Alfredo Palacio, the Minister of Health of Ecuador, Dr. Francisco Andino, and representatives of the Organization of American States and of the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States, Dr. Roses said that "I reaffirm my commitment with emotion and pride as the first woman to assume the direction of this centenary and prestigious Organization and to guide it at the beginning of this new Millennium."

Dr. Roses said, "The focus of my attention will be working in and with the countries. Faithful to my profession as an epidemiologist, I will seek contact with the communities and observe the projects in the field."

She pointed out the importance of communication and of information exchange, noting that "This will be the century of networks, of connectivity and interdependence, which will make it possible for us to overcome barriers of space and of time and open possibilities that were unimaginable to humankind." She added "If we promote those networks so that they multiply exponentially the available social capital, so they link people and institutions to support and include all the people of the continent, we will have taken a fundamental step for knowledge and experience in new ways to exchange technical cooperation for sustainable human development."

In a diverse continent, she said, the countries face difficult scenarios, including "Unfavorable economic conditions with increases in poverty, aging of populations, rapid and disorderly urbanization and environmental degradation, which makes them highly vulnerable. Each day more people live below the poverty line, and differences between rich and poor are growing in many countries, communities and groups."

Dr. Roses said "environmental risks are more threatening every day, and the current course of globalization is producing unequal benefits that contribute to increasing inequities among the countries. In this framework, those of us who consider health as a social product, can be proud of achieving and sustaining impressive gains in public health and in the extension of life expectancy in most countries, despite successive and prolonged economic and political crises."

"Even in critical periods, such as the so-called lost decade, with ruptures in democracy and economic stagnation, we have achieved the elimination of polio, the near- disappearance of measles, and reductions in infant mortality," she said.

Dr. Roses said she will give special importance to the fight against the AIDS epidemic, focusing on the countries of the Caribbean, and to improvements in health conditions in priority countries, particularly Haiti, she said.

Dr. Roses recalled her first paid public health job as a door-to-door vaccinator in the smallpox eradication campaign of 1965. "I feel very moved after 38 years to continue serving health in the Americas and to be able to pay tribute to community and volunteer health workers on this 25th anniversary of the Conference of Alma Ata," she said. concluded.

PAHO, established in 1902,works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and living standards of all their peoples. The oldest health organization in the world, it also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization.

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