Health ministers from all around the American continent today called for renewed efforts to make hospitals safer in case of disasters, so they can continue to provide health services in times of urgent need....

The parasitic disease is endemic to 21 countries in the Americas. With an annual incidence of 41,000 cases in the Region, it is estimated that Chagas disease affects about 8 million people and causes on average about 12,000 deaths each year. During the 50th Meeting of PAHO's Directing Councel, Member States undertook to carry out a strategy to cope with the disease. They will strengthen ties with institutions in order to reach the Millennium Development...

PAHO Director, Dr. Mirta Roses, met with Colombia's new Minister of Social Protection, Mauricio Santamaria, and offered the support of the Pan American Health Organization to the new ministerial management....

Every year 160 thousand cases of congenital syphilis and 9 thousand cases of HIV in children are reported in Latin America and the Caribbean. The countries will seek to eliminate these diseases by...

In support of the resolution of the Strategy and Plan of Action for the Reduction of Chronic Malnutrition, ministers and delegates spoke out about projects and programs established in their respective countries....

PAHO Director, Dr. Mirta Roses, and the Peruvian Minister of Health, Oscar Ugarte Ubilluz, today signed an agreement to establish in that country a Regional Task Force on Water and Sanitation (ETRAS by its Spanish acronym) for the purpose of advising countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in basic sanitation, with emphasis on neglected and vector-borne diseases and on improving living conditions in general....

PAHO Director, Dr. Mirta Roses, awarded the gavel to Mexico's Secretary of Health , Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, as a recognition of excellent work during the management of the work of the 50th Directing...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1EmeXm3hK4 Haiti’s Minister of Health, Alex Larsen, describes the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake on the country’s infrastructure and health sector. He says support from partners such as PAHO/WHO for vaccination campaigns and other public health measures helped Haiti avoid epidemic outbreaks, despite the large numbers of people living in temporary settlements. About 75 percent of the infrastructure in three departments was destroyed or seriously damaged,...

Dr. Jose Luis Di Fabio, manager of PAHO's Health Systems based on Primary Health Care Area, presented the technical paper the Member States. Representatives of the delegations from the countries welcomed addressing the topic during the Directing Council....

Health leaders debated the concept of human security and its relationship with health on the fourth day of the 50th PAHO Directing Council. As opposed to national or military security, human security is concerned with the ability of individuals, families and communities to live free from fear and from want: to have job or income security, food security, freedom from aggression, and access to basic opportunities to live productive and dignified lives. Health is an integral part of human security...

The coat of arms has five stars, representing the Netherlands Antilles, a group of Caribbean islands that form an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and that on October 10th finalize their dissolution. Aruba was the first of these islands to travel that road 25 years ago, the same road now traveled by San Martin, Curacao, Bonaire, Saba and St....

Mirta Roses and Omayra Leeflang shared a historic meeting. The Dutch Antilles are negotiating their dissolution from the Netherlands, which is scheduled for October 10th. Leeflang considers the relationship with PAHO as "very important" to ensure health on the islands after the break and thanked PAHO for the technical assistance provided in response to the last flu pandemic. "Preparations were effective and timely, so we were prepared to make it through the process," she said. PAHO's...

Dr. Gutierrez, Area Manager of Planning, Budget and Resource Coordination at PAHO, presented to the 50th Directing Council the guiding principles and the different options for upgrading the management information system of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau (PMIS). He reported on the recent meetings held with the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees, as well as with the companies Oracle and SAP, two...

Mexico's Secretary of Health, Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, presented to his peers in the other countries of the Americas, the Mexican experience in reducing chronic diseases through diet and physical activity. Córdova Villalobos, currently President of PAHO's Directing Council, said that "among us we can build a global policy to tackle the obesity epidemic."...

Javier Vasquez, PAHO advisor on human rights and law, explains how human rights standards and treaties can help public health advocates highlight the responsibilities of states to protect health as a basic human right. Ministers of health from countries throughout the Americas endorsed the approach this week during PAHO's 50th Directing Council meeting, pledging to work with governmental human rights agencies to evaluate and monitor the implementation of international treaties and standards,...