PAHO News – June 6, 2002

In this issue:
-WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY CELEBRATIONS
-2002 CENTENNIAL POSTER CONTEST WINNERS
-PAHO/WHO 2002 MANUEL VELASCO-SUAREZ BIOETHICS AWARD: NOMINATIONS DUE
NEXT WEEK!
-CHAMPIONS OF HEALTH
-PAHO 2003 TRAINING PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH
-WHO JOURNALISM FELLOWS ARE SELECTED
-AFRICA NEEDS RESEARCH MONEY FOR AIDS VACCINE PROGRAM
-INDIA AND CHINA RAPIDLY EXPAND TB CONTROL
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WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY CELEBRATIONS

World No Tobacco Day was celebrated worldwide on May 31, 2002.  The
campaign for 2002 seeks to rid sports of tobacco advertising, promotion,
and marketing, as well as the elimination of exposure to second-hand
smoke at sporting events. On World No Tobacco Day, there was a sign of
enormous progress - the World Cup, the world's biggest sporting event,
kicked off and will be completely tobacco free. Tobacco companies spend
hundreds of millions of dollars every year on sponsorship of sports
events throughout the world. This is not philanthropy; it is to
circumvent advertising bans and increase sales of deadly tobacco
products, responsible for more than four million deaths a year. The
message of World No Tobacco Day 2002 is that sports and tobacco are
incompatible. The No Tobacco campaign's international partners include
the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
International Olympic Committee (IOC), Fédération Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA), the World No Tobacco Day Coalition, Olympic
Aid, and national and local sports organizations. More and more sporting
organizations are getting the message, including the Fédération
Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) which formally joined the campaign
on World No Tobacco Day.

The United States started a public service campaign featuring
firefighters also on May 31. At PAHO headquarters in Washington, PAHO
Director Dr. George Alleyne presented PAHO's World No-Tobacco Day Awards
to winners such as the Government of Quebec for its role in eliminating
promotion of tobacco products and brand names through sponsorships.  For
more information on award winners and activities in Washington, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/pr020531.htm.

World No Tobacco Day was created in 1987 to draw global attention to the
tobacco epidemic and the preventable deaths and diseases it causes. The
yearly observation on May 31 serves to inform the public on the dangers
of using tobacco and what people around the world can do to claim their
right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.
For the full press release, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/100/100feature22.htm.
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2002 CENTENNIAL POSTER CONTEST WINNERS

The results are in!  Most of the PAHO countries have already announced
the winners of their Centennial Poster contests. The gallery of winning
posters is now open. Take a look at the winning entries at:
http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/100/postergallery.htm.
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PAHO/WHO 2002 MANUEL VELASCO-SUAREZ BIOETHICS AWARD: NOMINATIONS DUE
NEXT WEEK!

The Pan American Health and Education Foundation is seeking nominations
for the 2002 Manuel Velasco-Suarez Bioethics Award.  The award is
intended to stimulate young scholars in developing bioethical analysis
and carries a cash prize of US$10,000.  PAHO/WHO named the award in
honor of Manuel Velasco-Suarez, Mexican physician, researcher, scholar
and founder of the Instituto Nacional de Neurología and of the Mexican
National Bioethics Commission.  For more Award information, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/PAHEF/velasco.htm.  Nominations are due next
week on June 15, 2002!
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CHAMPIONS OF HEALTH

In 2002, the Pan American Health Organization will produce a series of
public service announcements featuring some of the hemisphere's most
well-known and admired personalities who will act as Champions of
Health. These artists, athletes, and performers will come from all
corners of the Americas. They will be the carriers of important health
messages that seek to inform and empower the peoples of the Americas.
A list of the Champions already announced by various member countries is
available at: http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/100/champions.htm.
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PAHO 2003 TRAINING PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH

Health professionals in the Americas, who have leadership skills as well
as an intense interest in the international dimensions of health, are
invited to apply for the Pan American Health Organization's 17th
Training Program in International Health (TPIH-2003). The training
process involves participants in a work-study format at PAHO for a
period of 11 months starting January 27, 2003.

Canadian residents can request an application form and a complete
information package via electronic mail to the following address:
[log in to unmask] The duly completed application form must be sent
care of: María-Victoría Palacio, CSIH-PAHO Liaison Assistant, Canadian
Society for International Health, One Nicholas Street, Suite 1105,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7B7. Deadline for submission of applications: July
31, 2002.
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WHO JOURNALISM FELLOWS ARE SELECTED

Seven journalists have been selected to become WHO Journalism Fellows
for 2002. In October, the new fellows will visit Geneva for two weeks of
seminars and self-directed research. Most of the fellows will continue
with an additional week of field reporting from locations around the
world. The 2002 WHO Journalism Fellows are Rosemary Ardayfio from Ghana,
Christy Feig from the United States of America, Loh Foon Fong from
Malaysia, Naimul Haq from Bangladesh, Felix Amaefule Iwuagwu from
Nigeria, Claudia Elena Laslo from Romania and Lisandra Braga Paraguassu,
from Brasilia, Brazil.
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AFRICA NEEDS RESEARCH MONEY FOR AIDS VACCINE PROGRAM

Seventy percent of the 40 million people living with HIV are in Africa.
Yet only a minuscule percentage of global AIDS research money goes to
the continent for AIDS vaccine research. Scientists, ministers of
health, donors, research agencies and industry are meeting in Cape Town,
from June 3-4, to craft an action plan to accelerate research and
testing of an AIDS vaccine for Africa. US $233 million is required for
the African AIDS Vaccine Program. A vaccine is the best hope for ending
the health and development tragedy AIDS has become for many African
countries. AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa.
http://www.who.int/inf/en/pr-2002-42.html
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INDIA AND CHINA RAPIDLY EXPAND TB CONTROL

India and China have demonstrated how the strategy promoted by WHO for
control and treatment of tuberculosis known as DOTS can be rapidly and
effectively expanded, according to two studies just published in the
Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Both these countries – which
account for more than a third of all TB cases in the world – have
achieved high rates of case-identification and cure even where the
technology and public health infrastructure are inadequate. For more
information, visit:
http://www.who.int/bulletin/pressrelease/press_release_june_2002_bulleti
n_eng.htm.
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