Brasilia, 26 February 2013 (PAHO/WHO) - In her first official country visit as director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa F. Etienne met on Feb. 25 with Minister of Health of Brazil Alexandre Padilha and other Brazilian officials to discuss the country's health priorities and the international health agenda, with an emphasis on South-South cooperation, among other subjects.
In her first official country visit as director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa F. Etienne met on Feb. 25 with Minister of Health of Brazil Alexandre Padilha and other Brazilian officials to discuss the country's health priorities and the international health agenda, with an emphasis on South-South cooperation, among other subjects.
During her four-day visit, Etienne is scheduled to meet with government officials as well as representatives of institutions including the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and the National Cancer Institute, among others.
On her first day in Brazil, PAHO's Director and Brazil's Secretary of Health Surveillance participated in the opening in Brasilia of a regional meeting on "Health in All Policies," in preparation for the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion. In her presentation, Etienne highlighted the need to expand partnerships between the health sector and other sectors to support actions to improve health in the Americas.
Etienne also visited PAHO's country office in Brasilia, meeting with PAHO/WHO Representative Joaquín Molina and his staff to discussed Brazil's health situation, PAHO's technical cooperation activities, and key challenges over the next few years.
Etienne presented key priorities for PAHO over the next five years, with an emphasis on the post-2015 health agenda. She also noted the importance of human resources for technical cooperation, and particularly the need for qualified professionals.
On Feb. 26, Etienne will meet with officials from different departments of the Ministry of Health as well as with the vice minister of foreign relations, Ambassador Vera Machado. In the afternoon Etienne will travel to Rio de Janeiro to meet with the state secretary of health and the secretary of international relations of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
