The Executive Committee resolved that the meeting of the 28th Pan American Sanitary Conference and 64th Session of the Regional Committee of the World Health Organization for the Americas will be held between 17 and 21 September 2012.

The 51st Directing Council this morning concluded its work with the adoption of various strategies and plans of action plans and with discussions on several progress reports and other health issues in the Region.

The Director of PAHO, Dr. Mirta Roses, praised the work of the PAHO’s Office of Governing Bodies over its hard work and coordination efforts during the meeting of the Directing Council. Minutes later, she summoned the members of the Executive Committee to meet to establish the annual work program.

The Executive Committee elected El Salvador to the Subcommittee on Program and Budget and Administration, to replace Guatemala, which no longer forms part of the Executive Committee.

Dr. Mirta Roses, Director of the Pan American Health Organization, proposed to El Salvador. She thanked Argentina, Guatemala, and Haiti, the outgoing members of the Executive Committee, for their work during this year.

For its 149th session, the Executive Committee has elected Venezuela as president. Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, whose inclusion was announced at the meeting of 51 Directing Counci, joined this session.

The health authorities from the Member Countries today agreed on a series of actions that aim to mitigate the effects of climate change on health.

Recognizing that climate change poses a threat to public health, especially among vulnerable populations, health authorities from the Americas committed to strengthening health systems and taking additional measures in response to climate change and its impact on health.

The project seeks to modernize PAHO’s management information system, which plays a crucial role in providing effective support for technical cooperation to Member States.

PAHO Member States reviewed and discussed the public health impact of antimicrobial resistance and requested that PAHO develop a strategy and plan of action to contain this problem.

During the fifth and final day of the 51st Directing Council of PAHO, health authorities from the Americas and PAHO/WHO staff will address, among other topics, the following:

• Roundtable on Antimicrobial Resistance (report)
• Progress reports on administrative and financial matters:
  • Status of implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)
  • Master Capital Investment Plan
• Update on the modernization of PASB Management Information System (PMIS)
• Consideration of proposed resolutions pending adoption
• Resolutions and other actions of intergovernmental organizations of interest to PAHO:
  • Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly
  • Forty-first General Assembly of the Organization of American States
  • Subregional Organizations
• Other matters
• Closure of the session
• 149th Session of the Executive Committee

PAHO’s 51st Directing Council approved a new Plan of Action to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol that seeks to lower levels of per-capita alcohol consumption and reduce alcohol-related harm. It proposes measures ranging from increased taxes on alcohol sales and restrictions on marketing, to training for primary health care workers in screening and treatment for risky drinkers.

According to WHO data, alcohol consumption was the leading risk factor for deaths and illnesses in the Americas in 2004 and was responsible for more than 347,000 deaths.