PAHO News -- September 5, 2002

In this issue:
-MALARIA: PAST FAILURE, CONTINUOUS CHALLENGE
-PITTSBURGH REPORTER WINS PAN AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTING AWARD
-HEALTH PROMOTION IN THE AMERICAS FORUM: PRELIMINARY PROGRAM AVAILABLE
ONLINE
-PAHO CENTENNIAL BOOK NOW AVAILABLE
-THE SECOND HISPANIC FORUM ON A SAFE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
-WHO LAUNCHES THE HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN INITIATIVE
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

MALARIA: PAST FAILURE, CONTINUOUS CHALLENGE

Malaria is a tropical disease that continues to perplex scientists and
infects 300 million people per year. A past eradication attempt failed
and vaccine development has been unsuccessful. Today, malaria is endemic
in the region, transmitted actively in 21 countries and territories in
the Western Hemisphere. A variety of factors influence the conditions
for malaria: the parasites that cause the disease, mosquito vectors,
human susceptibility to illness, people's behavior and knowledge,
socioeconomic activity, and environmental factors.  For more information
on PAHO's effort to control malaria, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/100/100feature34.htm.
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

PITTSBURGH REPORTER WINS PAN AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTING AWARD

Marisol Bello, a special projects reporter for the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review, has won the Pan American Health Organization's U.S.
contest for best public health reporting for a special section on
"Haiti, Mission of Hope." In eight pages of stories, Bello chronicled
"The desperate state of health care in Haiti and what western
Pennsylvanians are doing to help." Bello and photographer Joe Appel
spent two weeks traversing Haiti's arid central region, first with a
mission of Pittsburgh doctors and later visiting one of the nation's
largest hospitals, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles, which
was founded by William and Gwen Mellon in 1956. The Pan American Health
Organization's Centennial Journalism Award, open to all professional
journalists working for newspapers in the Americas, was established in
honor of the Organization's 100th anniversary being celebrated this
year. http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/pr020827.htm
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

HEALTH PROMOTION IN THE AMERICAS FORUM: PRELIMINARY PROGRAM AVAILABLE
ONLINE

The preliminary program for the "Health Promotion in the Americas" Forum
taking place in Santiago, Chile, October 20-24, 2002, is now available
online. The Forum will bring together more than 500 high level national
and local government officials, health professionals and mayors to
participate in a review and discussion of the progress made in
strengthening health promotion in the region in the last two years. The
theme of the Forum is "Enabling and Empowering Partnerships for Health."
For more information or to view the program, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/HPP/HPForum.htm.
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

PAHO CENTENNIAL BOOK NOW AVAILABLE

"Celebrating 100 Years of Health: The Quest for a Healthy America," a
182-page book published in honor of PAHO's centennial, contains photos-
- many of historic importance - from every country in the Americas, and
is a must-have for everyone interested in public health in the Western
hemisphere. The soft-cover limited edition is available for sale now,
for a limited time only. It may be purchased for $25 plus shipping and
handling. To reserve your copy, please email [log in to unmask] or send
a message by fax to (202) 974-3143 with your name, telephone number, and
mailing address.
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

THE SECOND HISPANIC FORUM ON A SAFE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

The Second Hispanic Forum on a Safe and Healthy Environment, sponsored
in part by PAHO, will be held in San Diego, California, from October
7-9, 2002. Hispanic health is an increasingly important issue across the
continent. The Forum will focus on building the capacity of
community-based and Hispanic-serving organizations in ways that equip
them to better address the safety, health and environmental protection
needs of Hispanics, while also sharing these strategies and techniques
with international participants and organizations. Making homes,
workplaces, communities, highways, lifestyles and schools throughout the
Americas safer and healthier is essential to building a prosperous and
sustainable continental community. The Forum will target four main
areas: Occupational Safety and Health, Environmental Health,
Transportation Safety, and International Workers' Health.  For more
information on the Forum, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/HEP/HEQ/Forum.htm.
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

WHO LAUNCHES THE HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN INITIATIVE

Environment-related illnesses kill the equivalent of a jumbo jet full of
children every 45 minutes. "Our top priority in health and development
must be investing in the future, in children and the young — a group
that is particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards," declared Dr.
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health
Organization, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. "Today, I
initiate a mass movement for children's environmental health. Its
ultimate aim is to prevent millions of annual deaths and disabilities in
children, especially those of the poor, and improve children’s quality
of life." Dr. Brundtland called for healthy environments for children to
be one of the highest social and political priorities of this decade.
Unhealthy environments are a major killer of children, according to the
latest evidence. Up to one-third of the 13,000 child deaths that occur
every day are due to the dangers present in the environments in which
children live, play and learn. For the full press release, visit:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/who66/en/.
%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%%$%$%$%$%$%$

To unsubscribe from CANCHID send: unsubscribe CANCHID to: [log in to unmask]  -  for help see http://listserv.yorku.ca