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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) Technical Representative in Canada for PAHO
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April 11, 2000 - Statement by Gro Harlem Brundtland,
Director-General, WHO, Chair of the Global Alliance on
Vaccines and Immunisation, before the Subcommittee on
Foreign Operations Committee on Appropriations, U.S.
Senate
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Mr Chairman, Senator Leahy, Distinguished Members of the
Committee,
I appreciate this opportunity to meet today with a group
of legislators who have made a significant difference to
world health.
I propose to review ways in which ill-health precipitates
and perpetuates poverty. I will argue that effective
health care can yield substantial developmental benefits
for poor people. I will then describe some of the new
partnerships that turn hope into reality, concentrating on
the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations, or
GAVI.
Our new millennium is marked by a growing gap between what
has been achieved and what can be achieved. The 20th
century saw dramatic improvements in some people's health.
However, more than a billion human beings still experience
enormous levels of suffering, hardship and early death as
a result of illness.
This unsatisfactory situation is a result of old-fashioned
approaches to human development.
Not long ago, spending on personal well-being, such as
people's health and education, had to wait. Good health
was a luxury, only to be achieved when countries developed
a particular level of physical infrastructure and
established a certain economic strength.
Our experiences have shown that such thinking was at best
simplistic, and at worst plain wrong.
If poor people - and poor nations - are to prosper, they
have to enjoy better health. Recent evidence confirms that
illness keeps poor people poor, prevents them from
prospering and undermines human security. Health
improvements increase educational attainment and stimulate
economic development. For the poorest 1.5 billion people
in our world, better health is critical to prosperity.
What relevance do these observations have to the United
States? The relevance lies in what I will describe as
"enlightened self interest".
We all fear of the spread of disease. In the modern world,
bacteria and viruses travel almost as fast as money. With
globalisation, a single microbial sea washes all of
humankind. There are no health sanctuaries.
The separation between domestic and international health
problems is no longer useful, as people and goods travel
across continents.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin: "We must all hang
together, or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
But, Mr Chairman, it is not only fear which would spur us
into action. There are also tangible incentives.
There is the obvious argument that healthier populations
abroad would make better markets for U.S. goods and
services. Increasingly in a global economy, one region's
poverty is another region's opportunity loss.
In addition, health care itself has become a vast global
industry, absorbing in 1994 over 9% of the world product,
or 2.3 trillion dollars. I hardly need to remind an
American audience about the centrality of health care to
the economy.
Yet, so far the war on poverty has failed. Differences are
spreading inside countries and between countries. This
looms as a threat to people and to the environment - not
only for the poor - but for all of us.
Many parliaments around the world are growing impatient -
questioning whether money is being spend wisely and
effectively in a way that reduces poverty. They want to
see results; results that are concrete and measurable.
[...}.
We need to kick-start a campaign to reach each and every
child with the vaccines that are needed, including the new
ones that are starting to come available. That is why the
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation has been
formed.
GAVI is special because it brings public and private
sector partners together in a world-wide network.
It is a true public - private partnership. It is based on
a shared responsibility for a world where all children
receive a basic chance of survival and health. It draws on
the success of child survival and immunization programs,
backed for many years by Congress, and particularly by
this Committee,. It seeks to build on achievements of the
past, and offer new hope for the future. The Roll Back
Malaria, Stop TB and HIV/Aids in Africa partnerships have
similar features.
We need to learn from experience and bring these ventures
together at an international level - and even more
importantly - in individual countries.
Distinguished Committee members,
We have the knowledge. We have the opportunity. I believe
that globally, we can find the resources. The time to act
is now. It can be done. Thank you.
The full statement can be printed out from our website at:
www.csih.org/csihpaho.html under PAHO News Online, issue
p00_04_12.
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New Project Involves Men in Reproductive Health Programs
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Washington, April 11, 2000 - Involving men in reproductive
health programs, an approach little used previously, will
be the focus of a new project in Central America, under an
agreement just signed by the Pan American Health
Organization and the Government of the Federal Republic of
Germany. [...} The four-year project also will serve as a
platform to exchange experiences and foster cooperation
between the seven Central American countries focusing on
Panamericanism. For further information, photos, or B-
roll, contact: Daniel Epstein, Tel. 202-974-3459, fax 202-
974-3143 or, Email: [log in to unmask] InternetL
www.paho.org.
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Inter-American Conference in Distance Education in
Health - April 25-27, 2000 - Universidad Nacional Autonoma
de Mexico in Mexico City
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For more information, or to register, contact Liz
Pineda-Romero, Tel: (814) 863-0488 Fax: (814) 865-3290
[log in to unmask]
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World Health Forum - Interlaken, Switzerland - May 10-13,
2000
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Implementing health systems: Social solidarity and market
realism
For more information: World Health Forum 2000 c/o AKM
Congress Service - P.O. Box
CH-4005 Basel/Switzerland - Tel. +41 61 686 7711 - Email:
[log in to unmask]
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Congreso Mundial de Bioetica/World Conference on Bioethics
- Gijon, Espana - 20-24 junio 2000
A World Wide Society for the Century of Bioethics
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Contents: The Human Genome; Research-Experimentation into
the Human being and Embryological Structures; End of Human
Life. Rights of the Patients; Euthanasia; Assisted
Reproduction; Transplants of Cells, Tissues and Organs;
Biotechnology Ethics and Rights; Analysis of the Asturias
Bioethics Convention; New Century: New Dimensions;
Environment; Bioethics and the Media; Pedagogy of
Bioethics.
More information at: www.bioetica.sibi.org or by e-mail:
[log in to unmask]
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This document is available, with full formatting, at
http://www.csih.org/paho_ndx.html
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