Regional Stories

November 2023 “When I got malaria, my body felt warm from the inside out. At first, I thought it was something else but when, after five days, I found myself shivering with a high fever, that is when I went to see the community collaborator who was able to test and treat me,” Señora Emelida, a 52-year old, Indigenous woman from Rio Cañas, said.
Brasilia, 20 October 2023 - Nursing instructors from Guyana and five other Caribbean countries and territories participated in a training course in Brazil on clinical simulation, an educational methodology that recreates professional practice scenarios in a controlled, participatory, and interactive setting. The training took place last September…
For food engineer Geovanna Amancha, ensuring that the food products consumed in Ecuador do not make people sick is a priority.— August 2023 —That is why, as part of the SORT IT research and training initiative, led by Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases of WHO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank, with…
In October 2022, after a period of over three years with no newly confirmed cases, Haiti’s West Department experienced a resurgence of cholera, making it the epicenter of the outbreak. On February 6, 2023, an alert was issued by the Département Sanitaire de l'Ouest (DSO) in response to a rapid increase in cases on La Gonâve, an island within the…
Microbiologist Soany Avilez was delighted when she was selected to implement genomic sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in Honduras. In the wake of the pandemic, in 2020, she began working at the National Virology Laboratory performing PCR tests for COVID-19 diagnosis. At that time, genomic sequencing to detect variants…
In rural and remote communities of Latin America, ancestral practices such as midwifery have been passed down from generation to generation. In these areas, where geographical barriers and cultural differences can hinder access to healthcare centers, the practical and spiritual support of traditional midwives can make the difference between life…
Thanks to support from PAHO and the Government of Canada, after 13 years running water is restored in all patient care areas of a health center in Tegucigalpa. May 2023
In some remote, mostly Indigenous communities across Bolivia, the COVID-19 vaccine was met with a mixture of rumour and distrust.
Three young rappers from Chocó, Colombia, are supporting the prevention of diseases such as COVID-19 in remote communities on the country’s Pacific coast, where conditions of vulnerability and barriers to healthcare persist. March 2023