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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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PAHO Virtual Disaster Library
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You're invited to visit the new Virtual Disaster Library
at http://www.paho.org/english/ped/pedhome.htm

The Virtual Disaster Library (VDL) is an online
collection of disaster publications that boasts: more
than 250 publications in English and Spanish on disasters
and emergencies; more than 25,000 pages of ideas,
discussion and solutions for disaster reduction; a
powerful, yet simple search engine, that helps quickly
locate information

The VDL is a powerful tool which can save you hours of
searching and waiting for documents by allowing you to
view publications online in html or to download them in
pdf format.

The VDL is also available in CDROM format for disaster
organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean (in
limited supply).

The VDL is a project of the Pan American Health
Organization in collaboration with the Regional Disaster
Documentation Center (CRID) and the International Decade
for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).

For more information please contact
[log in to unmask]

DisasterInfo is a closed email list (not a "discussion"
list) for disaster managers and other interested
professionals worldwide.  Your email address will remain
confidential. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message
to [log in to unmask]

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PAHO, ILO Sign Agreement to Extend Social Protection in
Health to Excluded Populations
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Washington, August 24, 1999 - The Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) and the International Labour
Organization (ILO) have agreed on a joint initiative to
help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean extend
social protection for health care, especially for people
working in the informal sector in urban and rural areas.

In an agreement signed today in Lima, Peru, PAHO Director
Dr. George Alleyne and ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
said they would establish a framework for cooperation on
the joint initiative with the objective of enabling
"member States of the ILO and PAHO in Latin America and
the Caribbean to extend coverage of health care systems
and to develop policies for extending social protection
for health care, particularly in the informal sector, in
both urban and rural areas and among unprotected groups."

The initiative was drafted in the framework of the World
Summit for Social Development, where heads of state
pledged to give priority to the fight against conditions
that pose severe threats to the health, safety , peace,
security and well-being of their people. It is also part
of the mandate of the Summit of the Americas of 1994 to
support health sector reform efforts.

The agreement calls for PAHO and the ILO to study micro-
insurance schemes and other alternatives for extending
social health insurance and look at ways to strengthen
existing structures, as well as to carry out a
comparative analysis of national health insurance
policies to determine how many people are excluded and
why. PAHO and the ILO will also involve stakeholders in
policy design and implementation "to gain public support
for health reform policy in the region."

The two organizations will also bring together workers
and employers' organizations, government institutions,
non-government organizations, and research and university
experts in a meeting in Mexico City this November to
develop an action plan to support countries in their
efforts to extend social protection for health care to
unserved populations, and develop a tool kit for decision
makers.

PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the
Americas of the World Health Organization, works with all
the countries of the Americas to improve the health and
raise the living standards of their peoples.  The ILO, a
specialized United Agency, sets and deals with
international labor standards and works to ensure the
extension of social security and medical care to all.

For further information contact: Daniel Epstein, tel
(202) 974-3459, Fax (202) 974-3143, Office of Public
Information, email [log in to unmask]  http://www.paho.org
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This document is available, with full formatting and
accents, at http://www.csih.org/paho_ndx.html