Closing Remarks by Dr. Jarbas Barbosa Da Silva Jr., Director of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau and Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Americas

2 October 2026

Good morning, buenos días, bom dia, bonjour.

Honorable Dr. May Chomali Garib, Minister of Health of Chile and President of this 78th Session of the Regional Committee of WHO for the Americas;

Honorable Michael Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service of Antigua and Barbuda, and distinguished Dr. Yelkys Gil, National Director of Public Health of Panama, as Vice-Presidents of this Session;

Distinguished Rapporteur Dr. Cherita Moxey, Senior Officer, Policy & Planning, Ministry of Health and Wellness of the Bahamas;

Honorable Mr. Derek Walton, Legal Counsel, Office of the Legal Counsel of WHO;
Distinguished Ministers of Health, Ambassadors, delegations, and colleagues.

It is my honor to close the 78th Session of the Regional Committee of the World Health Organization for the Americas. I thank Member States for making the deliberations on the respective agenda items during the Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization so we could focus this session of the Regional Committee on matters related to the World Health Organization (WHO). As explained at the beginning of this Session, those discussions and all comments made will be automatically incorporated into the final report. It was a very rich discussion among the Member States on each of the topics. I also want to thank the Non-State Actors that participated in the discussions with several comments and suggestions about these relevant public health issues that we have been discussing during the almost one week that we have been in this room.

I express my sincere thanks to our interpreters, without whom we would not be able to carry out our work in such a smooth manner, and also to our translators, who have made it possible for all the documents of this meeting to be available in the Organization's four official languages.

Today, as we bid farewell, I would respectfully ask that we renew our commitment to Pan-Americanism, ensuring better health for the population of the Region while, at the same time, strengthening WHO so that it can serve the world, each of its regions, and each of its countries, enabling them to be well prepared not only for the prevention, detection, and response to a public health emergency, but also to advance access to health care, universal health coverage, disease elimination, and all the important health issues in which WHO plays a leading role across all regions of the world. I believe that this commitment, which has been demonstrated here more than once, helps make it possible, through joint efforts and solidarity, to improve the health and well-being of people in all countries of the world.
Once again, I congratulate you all on a job well done throughout the week. I wish you all a safe journey home.

I would once again like to express my appreciation for Dr. May Chomali Garib’s leadership in steering the meeting. She was a very calm but also firm President, ensuring that everyone had the opportunity to participate while, at the same time, keeping us on track with a very full agenda and many important issues. Throughout the week, she guided the proceedings with both determination and serenity. So I congratulate Dr. May Chomali, who was an excellent President of our meetings.

Thank you very much, muchas gracias, muito obrigado, merci beaucoup.