PAHO News -- February 6, 2003

In this issue:
-DR. MIRTA ROSES SETS COMMITMENTS AS NEW DIRECTOR OF PAHO
-NEW EDITION OF PAHO'S HEALTH IN THE AMERICAS
-PAN AMERICAN HEALTH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION SUCCESS STORIES
-GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA: RESOURCE PAGE FOR
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
-WHO TO MEET BEVERAGE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES TO DISCUSS HEALTH-RELATED
ALCOHOL ISSUES
-WHO OFFERS GUIDANCE TO MINIMIZE TERRORIST THREATS TO FOOD
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DR. MIRTA ROSES SETS COMMITMENTS AS NEW DIRECTOR OF PAHO

"We are committed to health for all, to the strategy of primary health
care, to health promotion, and to the reduction of inequities and social
exclusion," Dr Mirta Roses said at her inauguration as Director of PAHO
last week. She said her commitments would be to:
(1) Restore the Pan American Health Organization as the main forum for
health in the Americas, opening it to participation by all sectors of
society.
(2) Build consensus and forge alliances, strengthening continental and
global solidarity, and gaining new social actors to defend health.
(3) Address the new dimensions of health in the processes of the
economic, social and political integration of the continent.
(4) Advocate continuous improvement in health systems, promoting rapid
progress in access to health services and extending social protection in
accordance with the mandates of the summits of presidents and heads of
state.
(5) Renew the commitment and pride of all health workers and
organizations, emphasizing the importance of quality of care,
accountability, and evidence-based practices.
(6) Convert PAHO into the pre-eminent health information reference
centre, facilitating access to knowledge using all means available,
including modern information systems and mass communication.

For the full press release, visit:
http://www.paho.org/English/DPI/pr030131.htm.
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NEW EDITION OF PAHO'S HEALTH IN THE AMERICAS

Health in the Americas is considered to be the most important and most
consulted work of all publications produced by PAHO. The first edition
consisted of two volumes and covered the period 1997-2000.  The new 2002
edition features an added discussion on the search for health inequities
and how we might reduce them, as well as a greater emphasis on the
importance of disaggregating demographic information by sex and
incorporating a gender perspective in its analysis.  For orders please
contact:  Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA): [log in to unmask], or
Renouf Publishing Co. Ltd: [log in to unmask]  For further
details, visit:
http://publications.paho.org/english/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=663&CFID=18
08671&CFTOKEN=11005835.
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PAN AMERICAN HEALTH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION SUCCESS STORIES

PAHO has a series of powerpoint presentations that illustrate some of
the success stories from Pan American Health and Education Foundation
projects.  Visit the webpage at:
http://www.paho.org/English/PAHEF/Succestories.htm.
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GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA: RESOURCE PAGE FOR
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) is an
independent public-private partnership working to increase funding to
fight these three diseases in countries with the greatest need and
contribute to poverty reduction as part of the Millennium Development
Goals. The Fund will support efforts in prevention, treatment, care and
support of the infected and directly affected that complement existing
programs and/or activities. A page reflecting the Fund's work in Latin
America and the Caribbean can be found at the PAHO website:
http://www.paho.org/English/HCP/gfatm.htm.
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WHO TO MEET BEVERAGE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES TO DISCUSS HEALTH-RELATED
ALCOHOL ISSUES

The World Health Organization (WHO) will host a meeting with selected
alcohol beverage company representatives in Geneva on February 12, 2003,
to exchange views on the impact of alcohol on global health. Between
them, the companies represent more than half of total global alcohol
sales. The meeting follows informal discussions over the past six months
with a number of alcohol companies, and reflects WHO’s determination to
engage with all interested stakeholders in formulating a policy to
address the public health consequences of alcohol use worldwide. The
impact of alcohol on global health was highlighted by data obtained for
the recently released World Health Report 2002; Reducing Risks,
Promoting Healthy Life, where alcohol consumption featured among the top
10 risks to health. Alcohol is the leading health risk in some
developing countries, and ranks third in industrialized nations.
Worldwide, alcohol causes 1.8 million deaths, equal to 4% of the global
disease burden; the proportion is greatest in the Americas and Europe.
For the full press release, visit:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr6/en/.
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WHO OFFERS GUIDANCE TO MINIMIZE TERRORIST THREATS TO FOOD

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a guide intended to
help national governments establish mechanisms that will minimize
potential terrorist acts against food supplies. The document, entitled
“Terrorist Threats to Food: Guidance for Establishing and Strengthening
Prevention and Response Systems”, is available at the following website:
www.who.int/fsf. According to WHO, foodborne agents may be responsible
for up to 1.5 million deaths from diarrhoea-related conditions alone
worldwide each year. In industrialized countries, such as the USA, one
person in three may suffer from a foodborne disease annually. Major
outbreaks of foodborne disease and related food safety emergencies are
all too frequent, sometimes affecting hundreds of thousands of people
and having enormous impact on trade. While only a few cases of
intentional contamination of food have been proven, the risk of possible
terrorist threats to food should be given serious consideration by
public health authorities and the food industry. For the full press
release, visit: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/statements/nfp1/en/.
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