BIREME had its new governance framework renewed in 2009 through the establishment of three legal instruments: the Headquarters’ Agreement between PAHO and the Government of Brazil; the Facility Agreement between PAHO and the Government of Brazil; and the BIREME Bylaw, approved in the 49th Directing Council of PAHO (CD49.R5) in October 2009.
According to the Statute, the following governance structure was established as of 2010:
1. BIREME Members, defined in the categories:
- a. Member States: all PAHO Member States. This includes Member States, Participating States and Associate Members of PAHO.
- b. Participating States: WHO Member States which are not Members of PAHO.
- c. Participating Organizations: Public international organizations with specific qualifications related to scientific and technical information and communication.
2. Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee is composed of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Brazil as permanent members, and five other PAHO Member States selected by the Directing Council of the Organization for a three-year term, currently represented by Argentina, Jamaica and Peru (2016-2018) and Panama and El Salvador and Barbados (2018-2020). The functions of the Committee include making recommendations to the Director of PAHO on the program functions, work plan and financing of BIREME.
Ten sessions of the Advisory Committee have already taken place since its installation on August 31, 2010, as shown on Table 1.
Table 1. BIREME/PAHO/WHO Advisory Committee (AC) Sessions
Session |
Date |
Local |
Participants |
X Session
|
October 7, 2021 |
BIREME |
PAHO (EIH, BIR)
Countries (Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Uruguay)
|
IX Session
|
December 17, 2020 |
Online |
PAHO (EIH, BIR) Countries (Barbados, Brazil, El Salvador, Guyana, Mexico, and Uruguay)
|
Ad Hoc Session
|
July 30, 2020 |
Online |
PAHO (EIH, BIR) Countries (Barbados, Brazil, El Salvador, Guyana and Uruguay)
|
VIII AC
|
October 24-25, 2019 |
BIREME |
PAHO (BIR)
Countries (Barbados, Brazil, El Salvador, Guyana and Uruguay)
|
VII AC |
November 7-8, 2018 |
BIREME |
PAHO (EIH, BIR)
Countries (Brazil, Argentina, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago
|
VI AC |
February 2, 2017 |
BIREME |
PAHO (AD, KBR, BIR)
Countries (Brazil, Argentina, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago) |
V AC |
December 3, 2014 |
BIREME |
PAHO (AD, KBR, BIR)
Countries (Cuba, Ecuador) |
IV AC |
November 26, 2013 |
BIREME |
PAHO (KMC, BIR)
Countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Puerto Rico) |
III AC |
December 5, 2012 |
BIREME |
PAHO (KMC, BIR)
Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Suriname) |
II AC |
October 25, 2011 |
BIREME |
PAHO (KMC, PWR/BRA, BIR)
Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic) |
I AC |
August 31, 2010 |
PAHO/HQ |
PAHO (D, AD, DD, AM, KMC, LEG, PWR/BRA, BIR)
Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico) |
Note: Countries in bold indicate the Presidents of each Session.
3. Scientific Committee
The Scientific Committee (SC) is composed of five expert members nominated by PAHO Member States and the Director of PAHO and appointed by BIREME’s Advisory Committee. The Scientific Committee advises the Director of PAHO and the Advisory Committee of BIREME on the preparation and implementation of the work plan, making recommendations on the programmatic functions of the Center. The Committee is also responsible for recommending the adoption of innovations in information technologies for BIREME’s scientific communication products and services. For the 2017-2019 biennium, the Committee is made up of representatives from Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil.
Seven sessions of the SC have already taken place since its inception on July 25, 2013, in a meeting held at BIREME’s headquarters, with the participation of experts from Brazil, Canada, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM).
The seventh Session took place on September 30, 2021, virtually, and relied on the participation of experts from Argentina (Education), Brazil (Development, Operation and Financing for BIREME’s Projects, Products and Services and Evidence-Informed Health), United States (Information Management), The Netherlands (Information Technology), Scholarly Communication (Mexico), and Scientific Research (Peru). PAHO/WHO was represented by the Director of the Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (EIH), Sebastián Garcia Saisó, by the Director, Diego González Machín, and the BIREME team.
The sixth Session took place on December 4, 2020, virtually, and relied on the participation of experts from Argentina (Education), Brazil (Development, Operation and Financing for BIREME’s Projects, Products and Services and Evidence-Informed Health), United States (Information Management), The Netherlands (Information Technology), Scholarly Communication (Mexico), and Scientific Research (Peru).
On August 28, an online Ad Hoc session was held to welcome the new members of the Scientific Committee, elected for a period of three years (2020-2022), which includes experts from Argentina (Education), Brazil ( Development, Operation and Financing for BIREME’s Projects, Products and Services and Evidence-Informed Health), United States (Information Management), The Netherlands (Information Technology), Scholarly Communication (Mexico), and Scientific Research (Peru).
The V Session took place on November 28 and 29, 2019, with specialists from Brazil (Technology and Information), Colombia (Education, Management and Knowledge), Costa Rica (Scientific Investigation), Cuba (Information Management), and Mexico (Scientific Communication). The specialist from Jamaica (Scientific Research) justified her absence, while sending her contributions.
The IV Session took place on December 3, 2018 at BIREME facilities, with representatives from Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, as well as the distinguished presence of the Director of PAHO/WHO, Dr. Carissa Etienne. In addition, Dr. Amanda Wilson, Coordinator of the National Network of the U.S. NLM participated as an observer at the meeting
The III Session of the Scientific Committee took place on December 7 and 8, 2017 at BIREME and was attended by representatives from Mexico, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, as well as by the Assistant Director of PAHO/WHO, Francisco Becerra, and the Consultant in Health Organization Services, Maurício Bustamente.
The II Session took place on August 14, 2014, also at BIREME, and was attended by experts from Brazil, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago and the NLM.
4. Secretariat
The Secretariat is a permanent body of BIREME, composed of the Director of BIREME and the technical and administrative teams. It is responsible for the management and execution of the institution’s program functions.
5. Institutional Organization Chart
PAHO Director (Dr. Carissa F. Etienne)
Assistant Director (Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr.)
EIH Director – Department of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (Dr. Sebastián Garcia Saisó)
BIREME Director a.i. (Dr. Sebastián Garcia Saisó)
COM – Scholarly Communication in Health and Institutional Communication (Dr. Lilian Calò)
GA – Administrative Management and Planning (Silvia A. Valentin)
- ADM - Administration (Silvia A. Valentin)
- CPP – Controllership and Process (Adriano Rheder de Sá)
- ITI – Information Technology Infrastructure (Marcia Y. Barretto)
MTI – Methodologies and Information Technologies (vacant)
- DES – System Development (vacant)
- RST – Technical Support Network (Marcos Mori)
- DGI – Graphic Design and Interfaces (vacant)
AFI – Information Source Administration (vacant)
- OFI – Information Sources Operation (Marcelo Bottura)
- TCS – Health Terminologies and Classification (Ana Cristina Campos)
PFI – Information Source Production (Verônica Abdala, a.i.)
- FIR – Referential Information Sources (Sueli Suga)
- MIP – VHL Instances and Projects (Juliana Sousa)
SCI – Cooperative Information Services (Verônica Abdala)
- SAU – User Service (Rosemeire Rocha Pinto)
- SCAD – Cooperative Service for Accessing Documents (Marilda Perez)
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