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PAHO NEWS: Press Releases, Job Vacancies, and Other
Information from the Pan American Health Organization
PAHO) via the Canadian Society for International Health
(CSIH) http://www.csih.org; Technical Representative in
Canada for PAHO
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LA Times, Discover Magazine, and CNN en Espanol Take PAHO
Health Awards
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For more information call Bryna Brennan, (202) 974-3457,
Office of Public Information, e-mail: [log in to unmask],
http:\\www.paho.org
Washington, 5 January 2000 - A team from the Los Angeles
Times, a free-lance writer with Discover Magazine, and a
broadcaster with CNN en Espanol took top awards in the Pan
American Health Organization's Awards for Excellence in
International Health Reporting, which were set up to
encourage coverage of issues related to global health.
The Los Angeles Times entry, entitled "Dangerous Medicine:
On the Trail of Black Market Drugs," was written and
reported by Tracy Weber, James F. Smith, H.G. Reza, and
Julie Marquis. The series of stories began "after two
California infants died following treatment and injections
of medication received in back-room clinics serving
Latinos," the newspaper said.
The Discover Magazine entry, sent in by writer Carl
Zimmer, dealt with sleeping sickness in Africa. One of the
distinguished, independent judges said he chose the piece,
called "A Sleeping Storm," for "extraordinary compelling
writing and personalizing a devastating disease to connect
the reader." The judge added that it was "an excellent
example of making a difficult subject understandable and
interesting to the lay person."
In the broadcast category, the award went to Gloria
Carrasco for her report on Chagas Disease in Bolivia on
CNN en Espanol. Ms. Carrasco said that some 500,000 people
in Bolivia suffer from this debilitating disease, which
has caused Bolivia to lose some 100,000 productive years.
The prizes carry cash awards of $1,500 each. The Pan
American Health Organization will grant the year 2000
awards for the best U.S. broadcast, magazine, and daily
newspaper stories relating to international health. The
deadline for submissions is 15 October 2000. An
independent panel of professional journalists makes the
decisions.
The Pan American Health Organization, the oldest
continuing public health agency in the world, is the
regional office for the World Health Organization. PAHO
was set up almost 100 years ago with the understanding
that the nations of the Western Hemisphere needed to work
together to combat the diseases that failed to recognize
borders. Today, PAHO programs cover a wide spectrum, from
infectious diseases and measles eradication to violence
and nutrition.
"We applaud the winners," said Dr. George Alleyne, PAHO's
Director. "They help make a difference."
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PAHO Applauds U.S. Emerging Disease Initiative
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Washington, January 11, 2000-The Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) today applauded the U.S. initiative to
increase the investment in combating emerging infectious
diseases. PAHO Deputy Director Dr. David Brandling-
Bennett said, "The resurgence of infectious diseases is a
threat to us, to our children, our grandchildren, and
generations yet to be born. Only with a concerted, serious
global effort can we continue to build the structures we
need to identify, prevent, and control these threats and
work together to build a safer world in the 21st Century."
"We applaud the increased investment in combating emerging
infectious diseases, which we have not conquered as we had
expected 20 to 30 years ago," Dr. Brandling-Bennett said.
"International travel, the movement across borders of
goods, foodstuffs, and diseases, which don't need
passports, the emergence of new diseases and the re-
emergence of old ones that were once under control, along
with ever more virulent forms of disease, have combined to
change the world." PAHO and WHO consider the immediate
availability and rapid transmission of information to be
critical, he said. "We have been investing in similar
systems in the Americas and globally. US leadership and
participation in these networks is very important."
"Infectious diseases are not only a health issue. They
have become a social problem with tremendous consequences
for the well being of the individual and the world in
which we live. We need to recognize them as a common
threat that has been ignored, at great cost, for too long,
and to build global ways to confront them. What is
required is the commitment of the international community
to help countries most at risk to help themselves. By
helping each other, nations protect the world and protect
themselves," he said.
Some 35 newly emerging infectious diseases have been
identified since 1973, ranging from AIDS to West Nile-like
virus, and nearly 50,000 children and adults die every day
from infectious diseases worldwide, Dr. Brandling-Bennett
noted. Many of these diseases could be prevented or cured
for as little as one dollar per person. Infectious
diseases are the world's leading cause of premature death,
and up to half the world's people are at risk of many
endemic diseases. In addition, millions of people are
developing cancers as a direct result of preventable
infections by bacteria and viruses.
PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the
Americas of the World Health Organization, works to
improve health and raise living standards in all the
countries of the Americas.
For further information contact: Daniel Epstein, tel (202)
974-3459, fax (202) 974-3143, Office of Public
Information, [log in to unmask] http://www.paho.org
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Information on Venezuela Relief Efforts
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Updated information on the ongoing SUMA mission in
Venezuela is now available at
http://www.paho.org/english/ped/ped-venezuela.htm (click
on Donations and Drugs - SUMA).
Informacion actualizada sobre la mision SUMA en Venezuela
se encuentra en el
http://www.paho.org/spanish/ped/ped-venezuela.htm (haga un
click sobre Donaciones y medicamentos - SUMA).
SUMA es una lista de correo electronico moderada para
diseminar noticias sobre las actividades del proyecto
SUMA. Para suscribirse envie un mensaje a
[log in to unmask]
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